


Here I Am

by Kiku_Takamoto



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Ableism, Ableist Language, Billy Hargrove Is Bad at Feelings, Blind Character, Bullying, Closeted Character, Good Friend Robin Buckley, M/M, Musician Steve Harrington, Protective Billy Hargrove, Robin Buckley & Steve Harrington Friendship, Sarcastic Steve Harrington, Steve Harrington is a little shit, Steve Harrington isn't Popular, Wingman Robin Buckley
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-05
Updated: 2021-01-15
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:47:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 22,437
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27903211
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kiku_Takamoto/pseuds/Kiku_Takamoto
Summary: Moving in the middle of fuckin' no where was not something Billy ever wanted, yet here he was. In hick town Hawkins, where nothing ever happens. He almost believed that.But then walked in Steve Harrington.
Relationships: Billy Hargrove/Steve Harrington
Comments: 10
Kudos: 96





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> WARNING:
> 
> Chapter does contain ableist language and bullying.
> 
> Also I know very little about what a blind person's life would have been like in the 80's, I tried the best I could to not misrepresent blind people. Please let me know if I can improve anything.
> 
> I am a deaf person myself so I tired adding in some of my own experience with ableism in the story, but again I'm not sure since I know deaf and blind people will have their own unique struggles and devices for everyday life. 
> 
> Also this story will have up to 3 chapters! so stay tuned!

**Chapter 1 - An Accidental Meeting**

“I can’t believe we’re stuck in this shit hole,” Billy growled as he dropped off himself and his sister at school, Max only rolled her eyes. Her brother has been complaining about the move ever since they left California, even though it was his fault in the first place.

Without bothering to answer or respond to him she left the car before skateboarding away. Anything was better than listening to him go on and on about his woes.

Billy walked up to the school entrance before noticing a couple walking into the school with their arms linked. The girl had dirty short blonde hair while the guy wore sunglasses that seemed to compliment his voluminous dark brunette hair. His clothing was surprisingly fashionable, but it had a band, rocker type of look to it, probably the girl besides him influenced him.

“ _The guy already looks like tool_ ,” Billy observed. He scuffed even more when he saw the girl open the door for the guy to allow him inside first.

‘ _What? Do these hicks also believe women should serve the men? God, no wonder Neil wanted this hell hole_.”

He couldn’t wait for this day to be over.

- **Six Period 2:59 –**

This school was shit, but Billy was now apparently already the new talk of the school. This was a boring accomplishment for Billy though. In California he had to fight for his reputation and respect, but here it was all but given. Oh, and coach wanted him to join the basketball team, which again wasn't impressive to Billy since the other players were lukewarm players at best.

“ _Does any shit ever happen around here_ \- “Billy felt himself collide with another body before falling to the ground. What the hell? It was a free period, why was someone wondering outside the hallways?

“What the fuck!? Watch where you’re going!” He barked, before getting back up on his feet.

“I wish I could,” a voice joked. Billy looked at the other figure for the first time to notice that it was the same brunette. Expect he had a long white cane laying bedside him and his books were all over the floor.

“ _Wait ... isn’t that what blind people use-_ “Billy felt his brain stop working instantly. The sunglasses, the girl leading him around, opening the door for him- oh … _oh_. At that moment he felt conflicted and dumbfounded, he was all for pounding on people who could defend themselves but even he held himself to some standards, only a coward would beat on a blind guy. And Billy Hargrove was no coward, he was an asshole, yes, but a coward? Hell no.

“Steve?” a voice rung out in the hallway. Billy looked up to see it was the same blonde as before, she looked shocked by the guy gathering his stuff and him being on the floor while Billy just stood there, but that worry quickly turned to anger as she saw Billy.

‘What the hell, dude? If you want to wail on someone go for Hagan or one his other cronies,” she quickly came by helping him gather his stuff before helping him up. He looked like he was either annoyed or embarrassed. Billy guessed it wasn't the first time someone ran into that guy, though he had a feeling he was the first person to actually run into him on accident rather then on purpose. 

“Rob, its ok. it won’t be the first or last time I run into someone- “

“Haha! Go Hargrove!’ someone cheered, the trio turned around to see it was Tommy alongside with his girlfriend and some other basketball players from PE earlier. Billy bet money that Hagan and his girlfriend were probably spending free period making out under the bleachers along with the other players on the team. He then saw Steve scuffing at the cheering. Tommy instantly took notice.

‘What’s wrong Harrington? Run into another wall?”

Watching this felt slightly worried Billy, he didn’t want his old man to have a reason to get on his ass, but he was interested to see how this would play out. Steve only grinned in response, despite not being able to see his eyes Billy could already tell the brunette was expressive.

“Na Hagan, but considering I have to listen to you talk shit, congratulations you’re the only person who makes me wish I was Helen Keller. Oh, I’m sorry do you know who that is, or did you cheat on that history test too?” Billy almost laughed at that, blind guy knew his shit.

“ _A snarky blind bastard vs a dumb small-town hick? Maybe this shit school isn’t so boring_ ,” he watched as Tommy got closer to the guy to which the girl stood in front of him.

“That’s big talk coming from a guy who can't tell apart the girl’s bathroom from the boy’s bathroom,” the basketball lackeys whopped loudly watching the conversation like it was some damn corny trash talking talk show on daytime tv.

“Oh, like how you snuck into the girl’s bathroom in 5th grade to see what a tampon looked like?” Billy was impressed, too bad the blind guy (Steve was it?) couldn’t see how stupid and embarrassed Hagan looked.

“At least my mommy doesn’t have to dress me and drive my crippled useless ass to school every day!” suddenly the whole hallway became quiet. No said a word not even Tommy’s lackies. Even they looked shocked by the comment. The blonde girl looked ready to kill Tommy. Billy bet if she was a cartoon she would have steam coming out of her ears.

“Hagan, the only useless one here is yo- “ Steve stopped her though. she looked at him in confusion.

“That an excellent point Hagan, Well, I should head off now,” Steve then picked up his cane, but Billy could see Steve grip it tightly, to the point where the blood in his knuckles disappeared. Within a blind of an eye Billy saw the cane fly up towards Tommy before returning back to Steve’s side. The girl besides him covered her mouth trying not to laugh. He then saw why, Tommy was holding onto his crotch in pain.

Billy had to bite his tongue to not laugh.

Tommy was holding onto his crotch for dear life before almost speeding at Steve, ”You batty eyed fuck!”

That’s when the bell rang an everyone else from the other classes came out. Billy knew Hagan wouldn’t be caught dead with people knowing a blind guy kicked his ass. Just like he predicted, Tommy began to limp away into the crowd. Billy then watched as Steve and his girlfriend, friend or whoever was helping him go to the parking lot. He then noticed a pack of guitar picks was right by his foot. He then did something he didn’t dream of doing. He ran to catch up with them.

“Yo, amigo!” he saw Steve turn around, it was obvious he recognized Billy’s voice already.

“Si?” Billy rolled his eyes, he couldn’t with this guy. Without waiting he took the guys free hand before thrusting the pick pack in his hand. He felt the guy freeze, maybe manhandling a blind wasn’t the best idea of the day. 

Steve was startled at first before he felt the pack of guitar picks in his hand. Billy could see his eyebrow raise in surprise, ‘Oh shit, thanks man. By the way, what’s your name? I’m guessing it’s not just Hargrove, right?”

Billy gave a small smirk, “Billy Hargrove, pretty boy. And who is the lucky lad-

“It’s Robin Buckley to you, “she interrupted deadpanned, ‘and I’m not Harrington’s girlfriend. I’m his fellow band geek extraordinaire, second best guitarist to Stevie here and the only one in this school who is not stupid enough to attempt sign language on a blind guy.”

“What seriously?” Billy scuffed. That’s when he saw Robin give him her best poker face (or in his opinion her ‘dead on the inside’ face).

“ _Shit, the hell is wrong with these people_?” his thoughts were interrupted with Robin leading Steve away to BMW. A woman with loose bangs and messy bun pulled up waiting for Steve, it didn’t take a genius to know who she was. What struck Billy the most where her eyes. They matched the same dark color as her hair.

“ _Guess that’s what pretty boy’s eyes look like_.”

“See ya Hargrove,’ he was walking away before turning back to Billy’s direction, ‘By the way I like shirt, I love that band.”

Billy smirked for a second before feeling confused, he wasn’t wearing a band shirt. He looked down to confirm that he was wearing a red loose shirt and his usual leather jacket.

“ _What the fuck is he talking about-_ “Then he stopped looking. It struck him, a blind guy just complimented something he couldn't see, Billy then began feeling even more amused than before.

“ _Blind bastard knows how to make people look stupid, no wonder Hagan was easily beaten … then again I think anyone could outwit that jackass_ ,’ Billy continued smirking the whole way to his car while waiting for his sister to come to his car.

Maybe this shithole wasn’t so bad after all.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Billy finds out more information about Steve and is surprised by the results.

**Chapter 2 – The Secret Talent**

It was nearly the end of school and Billy was waiting for his chance to meet Steve again. He waited almost a week for this and to say he was curious about the local blind guy was putting it lightly. Then again watching a blind guy outwit idiots on daily basis was too amusing for Billy to ignore, he wanted more.

He found out in under a week that Steve Harrington was in his AP biology class, could speak Italian, he was some gifted musician (or so he heard) and despite being a total dunderhead in middle school he actually turned from popular asshole to a-ok guy. But then again there is also rumors that flew around like:

_“I heard his dad made him blind so he would focus more school”_

_“I think he’s faking it; the band girls love a guy like him. I wouldn’t be surprised if he was a faggot.”_

_“He’s probably blind and smart so he can look good for his daddy’s image. PR loves a smart invalid.”_

_“Harrington’s probably a virgin, even wheeler didn’t want to fuck a blind bat like him”_

Of course, he knew these rumors were most likely untrue. But if there’s anything he learned from being an asshole in high school it’s this, rumors often time contain very small truths or a single piece of the truth, granted usually it was twisted, but it had some truth behind it. And no one could hide anything from Billy Hargrove for very long.

As he exited outside, he saw that Steve was alone, with no Robin in sight. Excellent. He can pull information from the guy in peace.

As he approached Steve, he noticed Steve was dragging his finger across a page that was white. The page had bumps on it, it looked like alien code but as Billy got closer, he could see what it was. It was a braille book.

_“I wonder if the dumbass’s in class even know what braille is.”_

He saw Steve freeze instantly as Billy stood in front of him, Steve ‘looked up’ at him, “Hello?”

“Hey amigo,” he saw Steve relax instantly.

“Oh, hi Hargrove, what up?” Billy then sat next to Steve on the bench. Steve put his book down. Billy felt his eyebrows shoot up.

“Still remember me?”

“You’re the only one who calls me amigo, not that hard for me to connect the dots’ Steve confirmed, Billy wouldn’t admit outload, but he was impressed by Steve, ‘So, what can I help you with?”

Perfect, now he can get some information, “What’s with you and Hagan?”

“Straight to business, huh? Well since everyone will tell you anyways, Hagan and I were once friends, or I guess best friends.”

“Once friends?” Billy inquired. He saw Steve shift slightly, obvious talking about Tommy made him uncomfortable.

“Yeah, most jocks don’t like fellow jocks who lose their eye site,” that caught Billy off guard. Tommy was once his friend but then he abandoned Steve, all because he lost his eyesight? Sheesh, talk about shit luck, who abandons their best friend for going blind? Apparently, Tommy Hagan.

_“Have to give Hagan credit, he’s better at being a jackass then I am. Nice.”_

“You weren’t born blind then?” the change in subject seemed to ease the hidden tension. Steve turned to him grinning slightly.

“Nope,’ Steve confirmed popping the p, ‘I’m not even completely blind now.”

“Uh, explain?”

“Retinitis pigmentosa,” Billy could only stare. What the fuck did he just say?

“Come again?”

“Retinitis pigmentosa, had since I was born. Basically, the back of my eye is eating away. At first it was just night vision issues, then tunnel vison and now I can barely see shit at all. It was fine when I was a kid, but now I can’t really do any school sports expect swimming,” Steve explained. Billy could tell he told this to people before, it sounded too rehearsed not to.

“You can’t see at all?” he felt stupid for asking, but he honestly couldn’t tell. Sometimes he felt like Steve could see more then he was letting on.

“Well … no. maybe a little bit if it really bright but even then, I can only see colors and maybe some outlines, but it’s completely dark outside I can’t see a thing- “

“Then why wear sunglasses? Doesn’t that make it more difficult for you to see?” he heard Steve let out a small laugh.

“It was either these or regular glasses. Besides I may not be able to see but I can tell when people are staring at my eyes,’ at that moment Billy regretted asking that question, Steve sighed for moment adjusting his glasses, ‘Besides I’m pretty much blind anyways at the most I can't see colors and some outlines, so wearing sunglasses doesn’t make much of a difference. Plus, I usually wear them to protect my eyes and so even lowest IQ prick can get the hint that I’m blind.’

Billy felt sorry for him. He bet it was hell to be different let alone disabled in this town.

‘Anyways my vison went away quicker than expected, so my sunglass collection came in handy,” Steve sounded really nonchalant to Billy. It surprised him somewhat, if it was him in Steve’s shoes, he would have told anyone who sked him to fuck off. Or at the very least he could be fucking angry all the time, but yet Steve was acting as if he was explaining the weather.

_“He’s had time to adjust, but he’s hiding something_.”

“You’re the only one here?”

“That is blind and isn’t old enough to retire? Yes.” There’s the sarcastic blind bastard Billy was waiting for. Time to reel him in for more information. 

“Talk to me about the guitar picks?”

“Well, aren’t you interested in me,” Steve joked. Billy rolled his eyes, at least he could be a rude asshole without Steve noticing.

“Playing music is the one thing I’m good at. My grade A asshole dad wants me to code in computers but that’s like plan B, ya know?” Billy smirked, he and Steve had more in common then he thought.

“ _So pretty boy has daddy issues.”_

“So, what do you like music?”

“Yup. I used to only listen to pop stuff but now I appreciate all artists, let’s see A-Ha, AC/DC, Kiss, even Motely Crue- “

“STEVE!” someone yelled out. Billy tuned to see some middle schooler with bushy hair come up to them. Along with him was three other middle school boys, one girl with short shoulder length hair and-

“Max?” he questioned. She looked just as surprised to see him. He knew he should be suspicious about her hanging around boys since Neil will give him hell for it, but at the moment he didn’t really care.

He heard Steve sigh heavily, “What now Henderson?”

“I think I found a perfect way to help you see- “

“Henderson no amount of glasses will fix my retinas from eating themselves,” Steve deadpanned. Billy looked confused but he continued watching. This was the first time he saw Steve not acting sarcastic, was he just putting up an act for Billy?

“Come on Steve, I don’t even have it now. Today I made a rubex cub!” Henderson then produced a cube. It looked like a typical cube, but it was covered in dots, like Steve’s book. Steve pressed his fingers around the cube until he stopped.

“Henderson? Why are there random Q’s and Z’s? “the Henderson kid instantly looked confused.

“No, they are B for blue and Y. for yellow- “

“Ok, the blind guy doesn’t know braille I guess!” The kid then grabbed the cube before realizing Steve was right.

“Dammit it took me like an hour to make this shit!”

“By the way Hargrove, the one who made the cube is Dustin Henderson, then there is Mike, Nancy Wheeler’s little brother,’ Mike rolled his eyes at the mention of his sister.

‘There is also Will, Byers little brother and Sinclair,” Both boys raised their hands when their names were called out.

“By the way who are your new friends?” Billy looked eye wide at Steve, how the fuck can he tell? He could tell the nerds where used to his reaction because Henderson rolled his eyes at Billy’s reaction.

“Oh yeah, uh here is Max Mayfield and El, I don’t think you and EL have formally met before,” Max stepped up obviously realizing that Steve wouldn’t be able to see her wave. She held out her hand to shake Steve’s hand.

“Nice to meet you …’ Steve just grinned not grabbing her hand, Max cleared her throat awkwardly, ‘I’m holding out my hand.”

“Oh! Sorry, my senses are good but not that good,” Billy saw Max smirk a little bit at the hidden sarcasm. He then saw El step up, Billy could tell she looked unsure on to approach Steve. Best guess he had was Steve was the first blind person she ever met.

“Y-You can’t see at all? Why?” El asked hesitantly. Billy saw that Dustin looked slightly horrified, maybe he knew Steve was sensitive about his sight? But he seemed so carefree and open about it. Maybe he was only comfortable around Billy because he didn’t heckle him like the rest of the hallway did? He didn’t know.

“Lost my vision early on kiddo, just happens sometimes,” El looked at the white cane and his book curiously.

“You can see those? … the stick and book?” she asked pointing them. It was obvious to Billy that she had no idea how to communicate with people at all, not just blind people like Steve, but with anyone in general.

“My cane and book? Yup, that how I see stuff and read stuff,” he then handed her the book, she looks interested in it instantly. Soon the rest of the group looked interested.

“What book is this?”

“Catcher in the Rye, it was either that or have someone read it to me-”

“Mr. Harrington?” Billy, Steve and the other kids turned their head to see a female teacher standing at the entrance of the door. Billy didn’t like her instantly, she looked annoyed, like coming outside to help Steve was a waste of her time.

“Come with me please, your mother is on the phone,” Steve quickly got up going towards the teacher who grabbed his hand leading him inside. Billy couldn't help but notice that Steve seemed to have issues following the teacher.

_“She's tugging him like he’s a dog on leash.”_

“I hate when they do that shit to him,” he heard the Henderson kid say. Apparently, he wasn’t the only one confused, his sister made it clear.

“Why?”

“The teachers and students drag around like that or do other shit like grab his hand and arm and ‘guide' him across streets and stuff, even though he knows where he is going!”

“But won’t he get hit by a car or- “Henderson looked more annoyed than before.

“He’s blind not deaf. I’m pretty sure you don’t eye’s to hear when a car is coming.”

“Ok, ok! sheesh, I’m just saying he may need help- “

“And he does, when he asks for it. Only Buckley, Wheeler and Byers ever treat him like a normal person,” Billy wasn’t surprised at all to hear that. Considering what he saw yesterday he wouldn’t be surprised if the dumbfucks he saw would ‘help’ Steve in public only to mock and ridicule him in private when their public image isn’t at risk.

“ _Or if you’re Hagan you use people who can’t defend themselves to make yourself look all big and strong, God, these people are so pathetic they can’t even see it.”_

Coon the group saw Steve return this time without a teacher following his every move,

“Mom’s going to be late, so I have to hang here for a bit. Maybe I’ll go to the band room today without Robin,” he stated going over to grab his stuff from the bench.

“Steve you need any help?” Dustin asked from where he was. Billy saw Steve smile as he slid and clicked his cane around the ground and steps.

“Na Henderson. I’m just going to practice for next Friday night’s show. I’ll see you guys later,’ he then got up almost expert like going towards the doors, despite his desire to follow Steve he knew he had to get Max home. Plus, he knew he was already drawing too much attention to himself.

“Let’s go shitbird,” he commanded heading towards his car, he didn’t hear Max follow him right away. Instead, he heard her walk towards the group again.

“Friday show?” He heard her ask the nerds.

“Yeah, Steve, Robin, Heather and some guy Alex something? Anyways they play in a band and they play in Indianapolis every and again, but I think this time they are only playing at a local nightclub,” Mini Byers confirmed, Billy felt a shit eating grin appear on his face as soon as he heard that piece of information.

“ _Pretty boy really is a musician_ ,” he barley acknowledged when Max got inside the car. He saw her look at him in confusion, then he didn’t blame her, he as usually an angry asshole who was set off by anything and everything. All he did next was drive himself and his sister home, while driving he cleared his throat to get her attention.

“Any plans on Friday night shitbird?”

“No, why- “

“Good, keep it that way. I have a date and as long as Neil knows your home I can go. Don’t screw me over,” he demanded. Max rolled her eyes continuing to look outside the window.

Little did she knew her brother was for once actually happy. His entertainment was not only the gift that kept on coming but it kept getting better and better.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Billy see's how Steve is treated in school, and learns one or two things about him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave a comment, I love hearing back from all of you! <3

**Chapter 3 – Not All Bullies Are Students**

It was AP biology today, but Billy felt distracted today. Why? Because one apparently there was midterm coming up soon and two fucking Hagan. For some reason that asshole thought Billy was his new lap dog/friend and took cracks at everyone he thought he was loser, and today Steve was his biggest joke.

Billy didn’t care about the other kids that Tommy picked on, most of them were theatre nerds, band geeks or debate team dweebs, but Steve was his main target today. Steve was with someone named Jonathan Byers, apparently the same Byers Steve mentioned before. Jonathan was doing most the lab work, but he didn’t seem to mind it. In fact, he and Steve were mostly laughing and talking, unbothered by everything else going on. Billy then saw Steve get up out of his seat, Byers guided him towards the door’s direction, which just happened to be right behind Billy’s lab station.

“Here Hargrove, watch this,’ Tommy whispered. Billy watched Tommy in confusion as Steve walked towards them with his cane, before Billy could even question anything, Tommy used his pencil to push the nearest glass beaker towards the edge of the lab table and onto the floor. The shattering glass was heard throughout the room. All the noise and chatter stopped instantly. Billy saw Steve freeze where he stood, he could already feel the horrible tension in the air.

“God! Watch it Harrington!” Tommy yelled out trying his best to sound annoyed, but Billy could see his shit eating grin. It was obvious to anyone that he did this before. He didn’t like where this was going.

_“What the fuck are you getting at Hagan- “_

“Harrington! What the hell did I say about staying in your damn seat until class is over! Last month was the last warning!’ the teacher barked. Billy felt his eyes widen; the teacher reminded him of his father when he got angry.

_“What the hell does he mean by last warning? All Harrington did was break a damn glass; it wasn’t even him- “_

The teacher stomped over to Steve grabbing onto his upper arm, clearly startling Steve, before all but dragging Steve out of the room and into his office which was at the back of the room. That was when Billy saw the dull pointed pencils on the floor next to where Steve was moments ago, then it hit him.

_“That asshole has a stick the size of a tree up his ass just cause pretty boy was going to sharpen his penicils?”_

Jonathan tried to intervene, but the teacher just ignored him. He closed the door, not caring that the whole class was listening in. Billy could see from his seat that Byers looked horrified before turning around to face Billy and Tommy, he gave a glare that could startle the dead awake.

“ _Something tells me Byers has seen this before.”_

Billy turned to Tommy who was grinning like he won the lottery; he was the only one in class who found this funny “What the hell you getting at Hagan?”

“The teachers love wailing on Harrington. A batty eyed guy who can’t follow rules is what they hate the most,” what the hell was that supposed to mean?

A suddenly whacking sound startled the class, followed by another one. No one said a word. Soon Billy could hear grunts in the room followed by more whacking sounds.

_“He’s beating his ass, isn’t he?”_ Billy’s question was answered when the teacher slammed the door open while dragging Steve back to his seat like rag doll. Billy winced watching Steve’s hips and legs hit the sides of the tables before being forced back into his seat. Jonathan squeezed Steve’s shoulder clearly trying to comfort him, but he looked extremely angry.

Then the asshole teacher looked down at Steve, “Harrington, keep your ass in your seat! Otherwise, we’ll repeat this every day for a damn week! Do you understand me or are you deaf too?’

He didn't wait for Steve's response before turning to Jonathan, ‘Byers clean up Harrington’s mess! Harrington was your responsibly, so you clean up after him! I don’t need that invalid to make more mess’s and destroy more school property!”

Jonathan just glared at the teacher before going over to the broom and sweep pan to clean up the glass Tommy broke. Billy felt his mouth go dry and his throat tighten, Tommy knew that the teacher would be a violent asshole to Steve and yet he still did it. Billy normally never defended anyone but something about this lit a fire in Billy. He. Was. Pissed.

“Hey Hagan,’ Tommy was still laughing as he looked in Billy’s direction, Billy grinned back pretending to go along with the act, ‘Met me after school at my car, I got something to show you.”

Tommy just nodded in agreement. Billy couldn’t believe how easy this would be.

_“Hagan, you’re a fuckin idiot.”_

After class Billy watched Jonathan lead Steve to Nancy, he knew that she and Steve shared the next class. Her usual happy look turned into worry as he saw Jonathan explain what happened. She looked horrified before looking downright pissed. Billy saw that she was about to head over to his direction before being stopped by Steve. He clacked his cane impatiently making it clear he just wanted to go to class. Soon the pair disappeared into the crowd as they separated from Jonathan to go to their next classes.

_“I’ll beat Hagan up then try to follow pretty boy, I’m not gonna let this asshole ruin my entertainment”_

**\- Later That Day After School –**

“So what do you have to show me Hargrove-“without warning Tommy felt a punch square him right in the jaw. The brunette fell to the ground before being forced back up by his collar. He was now facing blue eyes, and those eyes looked furious at him.

“Do yourself a favor Hagan, quit being a sorry excuse of a man. Picking a guy who can’t defend himself is what a fag would do. If you want a fight then come to me any time, I’m nobody’s bitch and you’re no fucking exception,” Billy then shoved Tommy to the ground before stomping back to his Camaro. He watched as Steve, Jonathan and his girlfriend Nancy got into Jonathan’s car.

Billy decided on the spot to follow them, his siter was with her friend El, who happened to be the daughter of Hopper the towns police chief, plus he really needed to explain to Harrington that he wasn’t Tommy’s friend.

**\- A While Later -**

Billy followed the car, but he stayed behind so he wouldn't be spotted by Jonathan. And somehow he still managed to lose track of the car, it wasn't until he got close to Hawkins woods that he finally found the car. But nobody was inside it.

**“** _Finally, there is Byers car … wait. What the fuck its empty- “_

“Steve!” he heard a female voice shout in the woods. Soon he saw something that he thought was his brain playing tricks on him. It was Steve being dragged by the leg by something that looked like a big black dog, expect it didn’t look like a dog. He didn’t know what it was … it looked like something out of horror film and it was fucking dragging Steve on the ground.

“STEVE!” another voice, this time male, shouted. He then saw something he never thought he would see or even imagine, he saw Steve take his cane and open it. It revealed a sharp point, it looked like a fucking spear.

“ _He kept that hidden the whole time?”_

The next thing he saw was, for lack of better words, … epic.

Steve sat himself up before taking the spear, spike, whatever it was, piercing through the creature several times. It squealed and wailed in pain as he continued to stab at it, black blood got everywhere, it wasn’t until now that Billy could see its head. It looked like an open flower, but it had razor sharp teeth and it looked not only fast but horrifically strong. Yet that didn’t deter the brunette at all. Instead, Steve kept stabbing the animal over and over again, until it finally stopped moving and all was silent.

“ _Holy crap … what the hell did I just see_?” Billy felt weird watching this. Watching the sunglass wearing sarcastic blind bastard fighting and plunging the creature onto a spike, on his own was … hot. And for some reason he thought it was amazing to watch Steve beat the shit out of that monster, creature, whatever it was.

“Steve at 3 o’clock, you’re right! Now!” he heard one of the two voices yell, this time the voice was clear. Billy recognized it as being Jonathan Byers voice.

Steve turned to his right, he used his cane to shield himself nearly two feet out, to which one of the dog-looking creatures went right through the cane, impaling itself on the point. As soon as it died that’s when Billy saw Jonathan and his girlfriend Nancy show up. They both frightened and out of breath but relieved at the same time. Then they noticed him.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Nancy demanded. 

"I'm not the one who should be explaining things, Wheeler. what the hell were those things?" Nancy and Jonathan looked at each other with hesitation before looking back at Billy. It was obvious they were hiding something from him. 

Steve scooted away checking the dead animal, or what the hell it was, to make sure it was dead; Jonathan gave him the other end of his cane two which Steve screwed them back together.

Steve cleared his throat while trying to get up, using his cane for support, “My bat would have been more useful.'

Billy was completely dumbfounded, " _What the hell does he mean by his bat?"_

'That’s enough excitement for tonight, now can someone help me with my chewed-up leg?”

All three looked down noticing the black and red blood mixing together. Billy felt his throat tighten more, Steve was badly bitten, and he was bleeding badly. Steve was about to fall until Billy caught him.

Blood got all over Billy’s jean jacket, but he didn’t care. The guy he had been hanging out with, and he now knew he was crushing on, was bleeding everywhere. He gently picked Steve up bridal style, before going back to his car, but he was stopped by Nancy.

“Where do you think you’re taking him? Haven’t you and Hagan done enough?” that pissed him the hell off.

He turned to face Nancy who did her best not to look intimidated, “Look princess, I don’t know what Byers or anyone else told you but me and Hagan aren’t lackies. And if that isn’t enough or you, then take a look at the black eye I gave him tomorrow!”

“Whoa, you beat up Tommy?’ Billy looked down to Steve, he didn’t know what to say. Was Steve impressed? Was he mad at him? What was he thinking?

‘Anyways, Byers, Nancy, its ok just let Hargrove take me back home. I can give the address and shit. It’s not like you can get lost in this town,” Nancy and Jonathan looked like they wanted to object, but both just nodded in silent agreement.

_“They know that Harrington won’t change his mind once it’s made up.”_

“Ok Steve …. But give us a call tomorrow before school at least?” Nancy pleaded. Steve smiled though he wasn’t looking in her direction.

“I know, I know!” after neither of the three said a thing Billy took that as a hint to take Steve to the passenger side of his car. Once Steve was settled in, he closed the door before being met with Jonathan’s eyes from his car. He could tell his classmate didn’t trust him, then again, he had no reason to trust Billy after today.

Billy got into his car before igniting it to life, Steve just looked straight ahead, “Ready for the address? It’s in Loch Nora, 4592- “

“What?’ Billy asked, honestly not being able to if Steve was serious or not, ‘You’re wealthy?”

“I’m not wealthy, my parents are wealthy,’ Steve cut in bluntly. Billy shrugged his shoulders impatiently, before starting to drive away. A neighborhood like that wasn’t hard to find since it was in an isolated part of town.

‘My house is at the end of the neighborhood, it should have red BMW in the driveway with a pool entrance to the left,” Billy just nodded his head continuing to drive in silence, he had to many questions.

“ _What was Harrington, Byers and Byers girl doing? What the hell did Harrington kill? What the fuck is wrong with this town? Quiet, small, nothing happens town. My. Fuckin. Ass! What the hell did Neil make us move to_?”

**\- Harrington House –**

To say that Steve Harrington's house was huge was putting it lightly, it was gigantic to Billy. He helped Steve walk up to his house with one arm over Billy’s shoulder while his other arm used his cane, as Steve struggled to get the door open Billy couldn’t help but look around.

_“I’m guessing this is why Hagan was friends with Harrington in the first place.”_ After all what rich kid wouldn’t be popular if they had all this?

“Ready to go in?” Steve asked opening the door, Billy just followed Steve in. The inside of the house looked very clean but also very bare. The only light inside the house was the hallway lights that were near the floor, not that Billy minded. He was used to sneaking around at night to avoid Neil, so this was second nature to him.

“Your house is disgustingly clean Harrington,” Billy saw Steve bite his lip trying not to laugh.

“Kinda has to be, otherwise I can’t find specific objects, or I run into things I don’t remember being in a specific part of the house,” Steve began to go up the stairs to where Billy was guessing was his room. He decided to follow Steve as Steve gripped onto the railing for support for his eyesight and his bloodied leg.

Once he got to Steve’s room it actually wasn’t what he was expecting. He was expecting it to be as bare and boring as the rest of the house, but it actually looked pretty much like any other teenagers’ room, maybe a bit cleaner, but still pretty normal. The white walls had posters of various bands and photos, and shelves full of trophies, mostly of swimming and basketball- wait basketball?

“Harrington, you played basketball?”

“In middle school, but I got kicked off after one semester. You can guess why,” Billy felt conflicted, he knew that players were in and out all the time but still. If he lost eyesight, his ability to play sports and from what he has already seen from watching Steve, independence and basic human respect he didn’t know if he could be like Steve at all.

“ _You’re a lot stronger than you think Harrington,”_ he watched Steve sat on his bad struggling to get his torn and threaded pants off. Billy felt his face heat up out of nowhere but decided to play it cool. Which was hard to do since Steve now in his boxers. 

“Uh, you have a first aid kit?”

“Yeah, bellow my bed, you don’t have to help I’ve done this millions of times before,” Steve explained brushing his fingers against the handle of the first aid kit before placing it on top of his bed. Billy cringed as Steve hissed in pain at the anesthetic touching his sliced skin, but he kept going before placing gauze and other padding on the deeper cuts. Why Steve doesn’t just go to hospital is beyond Billy, he was rich, why didn’t he go get real medical treatment? Something caught attention.

The bruises.

There were some along his hips and thighs, clearly from that asshole teacher bumping into tables, but what really caught Billy’s eye was the bruises just barely peaking on the pale teens lower back. Some of them were clearly fresh bruises but some of them looked faded, at least a couple weeks old. After today’s biology class Billy had very little doubt how those injuries came to be.

“ _They might as well just tell him they’re punishing him for being blind, at least they would be fucking honest_ ,” for the hundredth time that day Billy didn’t know why he was so angry. He has been beaten for years by his dad, sometimes to the point of hospitalization, but at least he could actually defend himself to some degree. It was hard enough defending himself with no disabilities, but even Billy had a hard time imagining how he could defend himself while being blind.

Billy cleared his throat, hoping to break the silence in the room, “So it’s just you alone?”

“Just for the night, my mom and dad are in Indianapolis, so Byers and Nancy come help me out when I need it. Usually Robin practice’s with me and hangs out at here but she’s attending a funeral in Cleveland this week, so it’s just me,” Steve explained, putting on a pair of sweatpants that were already on his bed. Billy looked around the room impressed at the amount of music cassettes and braille books. But what really caught his eye was the two guitars, one bass and one electric guitar, both sitting in the corner of the room.

“You play guitar often?”

“Maybe,” Steve smirked. Billy picked up one of the guitars carefully out its stand, it was all black, but it made sense to him. He bet even with eyesight Steve was probably not the type of person to care about what color his instruments were.

“Then play something pretty boy” Steve raised his eyebrows.

“Well since you were so nice to me today I'll play you something, you Scorpions’ kinda guy, right?”

“How’d you figure that?”

“Just a lucky guess,” Steve grinned, sitting up while reaching out taking the guitar from Billy. Steve felt around the underneath of his bed before pulling out a cable cord, clearly belonging to an amplifier. Almost without hesitation Steve began to play the guitar intro to ‘Rock You Like a Hurricane’, Billy was impressed. Steve’s fingers were dancing around the neck of the guitar like it was nothing, he clearly practiced every day and it showed. Steve Harrington was a natural.

“ _Holy fucking fuck, he’s actually good at guitar. He's not just blowing smoke,_ ” Steve soon ended his guitar piece before the singing portion of the song would have started, Billy had been so hypnotized by Steve performing that he didn’t even realize a minute or so had passed. Steve had a huge grin on his face, Billy couldn’t help but return the grin.

“No bad, amigo. I would dare say you’re above average.”

“I know, I’m pretty awesome, aren’t I? I can tell by your grin,” Billy felt his face drop.

“How in the hell did you know that?” Steve’s grin just grew bigger.

“I didn’t, but thank for confirming it, “God fucking dammit. Billy wasn’t sure who he was more irritated with, Steve for making him look like a fool or himself for falling for an obvious trap.

“ _Why do I keep falling for that cheap ass trick?”_ Billy scuffed to himself before getting up.

“I have to head home before the old man pops a damn blood vessel,’ Billy stated stopping at the doorway, ‘Harrington, you mind if we hang out more often?”

“Not at all, you’re actually pretty cool man. Don’t worry about the door, I usually lock it anyways,” Billy just stared back unsure of what to say.

“Ok, I’ll see you tomorrow after school,” he then walked downstairs, shutting the front door before returning to his car. He paused for a moment before igniting his car to life. As he drove home he had many questions on his mind.

What the hell was in the woods earlier? What the hell else does Harrington and his friends do? And why did he feel so drawn to the brunette? … Why couldn’t he get enough of him?


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4 – The Most Beautiful Eyes**

Billy was outside the school almost exactly on the dot. Normally he would take his sweet ass time to leave and then wait for his sister, but he didn’t want to be late in meeting with Steve. Given his luck, Steve would either be dealing with some asshole or fighting whatever those monster things were. Thankfully today was not the day. But he saw something that equally annoyed him, his sister and her socially awkward friend were with Steve … who was braiding the girl’s hair, while Max continued to speak to him.

_“That bitch better not be telling him any shit,”_ Billy all but stomped over to Steve and the two girls. Max stopped talking to Steve to look at Billy, she looked annoyed.

“Can you wait? Hopper is coming to pick us up- “

“I’m here for Harrington shitbird- “

“Easy dude,’ Steve interrupted still finishing with El’s braids, which oddly enough looked perfect, ‘You’ll mess up my braid game.”

Billy raised an eyebrow, “How the hell do you how to do that?”

“Rob can’t reach the back of her head to save her life,” Steve answered jokingly finishing the last part of El’s braid before tying it in place. The girl looked happy at the result; Max gave her a smile in return.

“Thank you, they’re pretty,” El thanked quietly. Steve just smiled in return. Billy would have found this moment slightly cute (not that he would ever dare say that outload), had it not been for the basketball he saw coming for Steve’s head. Billy dropped his bag catching the ball before Steve even noticed. He didn’t look surprised what soever.

Billy turned his head to see it was Hagan, black eye and all.

“ _This dumb fuck never learns_.”

Billy began to march over to Hagan until he felt Steve hold onto his sleeve, he saw Steve just smile, “Your throw has gotten a lot better, Hagan.”

Tommy crinkled his nose in disgust, “You couldn’t throw to save your life even when you could see.”

“Oh, I’m so hurt Mr. 1.9 GPA,” Billy was enjoying this. Steve had so much dirt, yet Tommy was stupid enough to keep coming back.

“It’s 2.4! You fucking invalid- “

“Invalid? Really Hagan? Is that the best you can do? If you’re going to insult me at least put some effort into it. At least I actually have respect from women, while you’re stuck with Perkins cause that all you have in your selection,” Billy saw his sister hold back laughter at this, he couldn’t help but mimic her.

“ _Maybe me and shitbird have more in common then I thought_ ,” he would smile more, but then he saw Hagan march up to Steve. Max stood in front of Steve while El tried dragging Steve away. Before Billy could react, he saw Tommy grab his sister hard on the arm trying to move her out of the way. Oh, hell no-

“HAGAN! YOU FUCKIN FUCK! DID YOU NOT LEARN- “a loud whacking sound then field the air followed by another. Two harsh red lines decorated Hagan’s face. Along with his black Hagan looked like he got into a fight with a wall. He turned and saw that Max still had taken Steve’s cane which was still lifted in the air, her hand was trembling, but she stood her ground in front of Steve. She literally just used his cane as baseball bat.

“ _And Neil says she needs my protection. Yeah fuckin right.”_

Billy wanted to be impressed but the red and discolored skin on his sister’s arm made him go into instant rage mode. He marched up to Tommy ready to finish the asshole once and for, until felt a strong hand hold him back, he was ready to punch who the fuck was preventing him from getting proper revenge. He turned around to face a man in a police uniform and jacket.

_“Oh shit. Can this get any fucking worse- “_ but Hopper’s attention wasn’t focused on Billy.

The police officer moved in front of Billy walking towards Tommy, who tried looking more hurt than he actually was. The cop didn’t look impressed though.

“Cut the act Hagan, I saw everything. You think you’re such a big bad tough man? You instigated fight with a blind guy and grabbed a girl, which means you can explain this to the principle- “

“But I didn’t do anything- “

“It’s either that or you can get an assault charge for grabbing Miss Mayfield while trying to attack Harrington, take your pick. I will not give you another warning,” Tommy stared down Hopper for one moment before turning around heading towards the principal’s office with Hopper in toll.

Hopper turned to Max and El “Ladies I’ll be out in 15 or so minutes. Harrington, Hargrove, you two can go do whatever it was you were going to do.”

Hopper looked at the crowd of teenagers in irritation, “Show is over! Unless you want to follow Hagan to the office!”

That made everyone scram away, even Hagan bitch carol bee lined to her car; Billy scoffed at that.

_“So much for being a loyal bitch.”_

Steve cleared his throat forcing a smile, Billy could tell Steve was embarrassed but the. Brunette was an expert at hiding his feelings, he knew better then to make a scene, “Max? Can I have my cane back?”

“Y-Yeah, sorry. Just that guy was- “

“It’s ok. I know Tommy is an ass, by the way I have a question,” Max looked at Steve apprehensively.

“What?”

“Ever thought about joining baseball?” Max looked at him like he was crazy, but then she started laughing slightly when Steve held his cane like she just did.

“I’m serious! If you can hit a basketball player like Hagan that quickly in two goes then you could hit a homerun!” he encouraged this gained more laughs from Max, even El joined in.

“I never thought about but now I’m more convinced,” Max joked.

“Harrington, you wanted to go to your house?” Billy asked impatiently. Steve stood up gathering his bag while setting his cane on the ground.

“Sure, lead the way,” Steve put his arm waiting for Billy to link his arm around his. Max and El looked at Billy in amusement trying hard not laugh at his obvious discomfort. Billy glared at sister lipping ‘fuck you’ before linking arms with Steve. As he led Steve to his car Billy used his free to flip Max off, which made her bite her lips even harder.

_“You’re lucky pretty boy is here shitbird,”_ he made sure Steve was in the car before closing it and getting in on his side. Billy turned the radio station on to Metallica playing, as they drove, he saw Steve stringing his cane like a guitar. For some reason it was intriguing to Billy.

“Say pretty boy, you never did say how you learned to play that good,” Steve raised his eyebrows while still strumming his fingers.

“Well, now I can tell when I’m touching a specific note, I never got lessons I kinda just played around until the notes sounded right. That’s when Rob noticed me and then the band teacher took interest. Then I learned how to actually play notes.”

“So Buckley adopted you?” Billy joked; Steve smiled at that.

“You could say that she and Mr. Armstrong actually thought I was talented on my own,’ Steve paused stopping. His strumming for a moment, ’Not as a blind guy, but as me, Steve Harrington.”

Billy could only stare for a few moments, “So, this band stuff. Your show on Friday- “

“Was cancelled.”

What the fuck, “Why?”

“Place was shut down for a week, apparently crackheads were exchanging dust. So our show was moved to next month … which is actually perfect.”

“Perfect? Do explain,” Steve let out a scuff.

“Alex, the drummer of the band, son of bitch quit. He didn’t say why, he just quit like that,” Billy was surprised. This was the first time he saw Steve actually get angry. Like genuinely angry.

“What are you going to do?”

“Don’t know. I, Robin and Heather wanted to expand. I’m the lead guitarist and singer for now. Robin is the rhythm guitarist and occasional pianist, and Heather is the bassist. We wanted to find a regular soloist, but now we are short a drummer/backup singer,” Steve sighed, rubbing his forehead.

Billy couldn’t help but be jealous. Not because Steve was talented at playing guitar but because he had a dream, a goal, something he really wanted and was willing to work his ass for.

_“I wish I had something to look forward to.”_

“You know Harrington, I used to drum- “

“Can you play?” Steve interrupted. That’s the moment Billy realized he should have kept his mouth shut.

“Pretty boy I haven’t played in nearly 6 years- “

“We can practice! Come on Hargrove, I know you don’t owe me any favors but please. It took us 4 months to get a place that doesn’t require a day trip to Indianapolis!’ Billy felt conflicted at this, he secretly liked music more than sports but there was the factor of his dad finding out.

‘Come on Hargrove, don’t make the blind guy beg!” Billy sighed out. He was already knew he was gonna regret this.

“Let me meet with robin and Hailey- “

“Heather- “

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. If I can play it, I’ll help you- “

“Come on dude, you’ll be great! If the drummer from Def Leopard can be awesome with one arm and I can be a talented extraordinaire without vision then you’ll be fine! Plus, if we sell any cassettes then we’ll give you ¼ of the earrings. No questions asked!”

_“Dammit, now he’s giving me two reasons to join.”_

“Ok, I’ll join!” Steve gave a look that was a mixture of relief and excitement. Billy wanted to punch himself. He was basically Steve’s bitch at this point, and he let it happen.

‘Since I’m being forced to join this band can I at least know the name?”

“Don’t laugh, its named Demogorgon.” 

“Uh, explain?”

“The Demogorgon is a demon or deity from the underworld, its own name is considered taboo to even say. In a way my blindness is a Demogorgon, because people act all freaked over it and act like it’s a taboo concept. Heather and Robin are also Demogorgon’s in their ways too,” Billy was not expecting a meaning that deep. But he felt like Steve wasn't telling him the whole story.

“Ok, you consider your blindness is taboo then?”

“Not exactly, but me being a blind guy with ambitions and independence is. Its more socially acceptable for disabled people to be so poor, defenseless and helpless, a burden on society, expect for when a PSA commercial needs a poster child for a feel-good story...”

“Then what about Buckley and Heather?”

“That’s not my story to tell,’ Steve cut off, ‘So now that you’re part of our click, how are you a Demogorgon Billy?’

Billy was about to speak till he saw Steve lift a finger up, ‘Don’t answer too quickly. I want you to think of a legitimate answer not some bullshit on the spot answer. You don’t even need to tell me, amigo. Just come up with a reason, otherwise you’ll have no reason to play like you mean it.”

What the fuck? Billy knew that Steve took this band seriously, but still. He wasn’t expecting this.

Within a few minutes the pair arrived at the Steve’s house. Once the pair were inside Steve’s room Billy saw Steve face away from him while he took his glasses off to clean them before putting them back on. Billy froze in place.

_“I just realized I have no idea what Harrington’s eyes actually look like.”_

“You want to see my eyes, don’t ya?” dammit he was caught, was Harrington a mind reader too? Billy forgot Steve had very good hearing, he heard Billy not move so he just put the pieces together. He knew that Billy would ask at some point.

Billy cleared his throat, “Maybe, never seen blind eyes before.”

It was a pathetic explanation, but it wasn’t completely untrue. Steve seemed to buy the excuse without question.

“I’ll cut you a deal Hargrove,’ Steve stated sitting crossed legged on top of his bed, ‘I’ll show you my eyes, if you let me see you- “

“See me?” Billy inquired sitting right across from Steve.

“I can’t see but I can feel. I can touch your face to see what your look like.”

“Ok Harrington. You got yourself a deal,” Billy stated adjusting himself, so he was touching knee to knee with Steve. Steve let out a deep breath, it was obvious to Billy that Steve was nervous. It was obvious Steve was self-conscious about his eyes or letting anyone see them.

Billy watched Steve slowly take the glasses off, his eyes were closed for a second before opening them in dramatic style reveal. They were dark brown, not the milky white color Billy was expecting. He was expecting either no pupils or for Steve’s brown eyes to be completely white. He was pleasantly surprised. Though he couldn’t help but notice slight cloudiness where Steve’s pupils were. For some reason it was interesting to look it.

“Like what you see?” Steve broke Billy out of his stare. Billy felt strange, Steve was looking straight at him, but he could tell the eyes weren’t focusing on anything specifically. Yet they were beautiful to Billy.

“Maybe I do pretty boy.”

“Ha ha, you should have seen the nerds when they first saw them, they asked me if I even had eyes- “

“Oh my fucking God,’ Billy laughed. The people in this town really were stupid. Billy cleared his throat, ‘Your pupils are little cloudy though.”

“Ah, those are cataracts. I’m actually supposed to have surgery in the spring to have them removed- “

“Will it help your vision?” Steve nodded slowly.

“Kind of, I won’t get my vision back, but I’ll be able to see some more color. Not great but better than nothing,’ Billy wanted to agree but he found it hard to agree with Steve’s enthusiasm. To him Steve would still be just as blind as he was before the surgery and after the surgery.

“ _I guess you really don’t appreciate shit until you don’t have it anymore.”_

“Can I see you now?” Steve asked. Billy nodded before stopping himself, it’s been over a week and he’s still making dumb mistakes like nodding and doing other shit Steve can’t see. He gently grabbed Steve’s hands placing them on his shoulders.

“All yours,” he watched Steve’s face changed slightly as his hands touched Billy’s shoulders and collar bones. Steve’s face contorted in confusion. What the hell was wrong?

“Why do you have so many buttons undone? Where’s the rest of your shirt? You’ll freeze to death out here dude,” Billy smirked at this. It was funny to watch the brunette be so worried and act like a mother hen. He then felt the hands touch his necklace, normally he would punch anyone who even tried to touch his mother’s necklace, but with Steve it was different. He was the one exception Billy accepted.

Steve lifted it up placing it closely to his eyes, staining his eyes to look at the necklace.

‘Is this a Catholic necklace?” Billy was surprised. Even seeing people with perfect vision had a hard time guessing what his necklace was.

“How can you tell?”

“Most Catholic necklaces have a figure in the engraving, plus the gold I can see kind of confirms it, isn’t gold like a Catholic thing?” he asked before placing it down.

Billy didn’t respond back, because he didn’t realize how close Steve actually was till that very moment. He then returned to Billy’s neck before sliding his hands up, Billy felt his heart rate go up as he felt the hands go through his hair gently. Billy hated it whenever people touched his hair but again, for some reason he didn’t mind when Steve did it.

“Jesus you have a lot of hair, what color is it?”

“Blonde,” Steve continued touching Billy hair before moving onto his face. He paused when his fingers brushed over the earring on Billy’s ear, but he then continued on to Billy’s jaw and cheeks. For the first time Billy could clearly feel the callouses on Steve’s fingers, the amount of time the brunette played instruments was evident.

“You shaved just for me? How considerate of you, Hargrove” Steve commented. Billy almost laughed at that, but his heart felt like it was going pop out of his chest. Steve didn’t seem to notice Billy’s nervousness at all. It drove him crazy.

_“Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck.”_

“Jesus dude, you’re every girl's wet dream, aren’t you? Nice forehead, smooth skin and let me guess? Blonde hair means you have blue eyes?” of course he got that fucking right.

“How did you guess blue?”

“Cause most blondes have blue eyes. And I’m talking about actual blondes, not the ones who use $2 peroxide from the nearest drug store,’ Billy smirked while Steve was pressing his fingertips on Billy’s eyebrows, which tickled slightly, ‘What I lack in sight I make up for in smarts. Plus, it’s easy to be a good student when all you can do is read in school without the teachers frisking over every move you make.”

Billy felt awful as soon as he heard that. He knew just from the last two weeks that everyone in school treated Steve like he was some helpless little boy or a burden that got in the way. But after watching him play guitar and easily go through classes he questioned why everyone besides Buckley, Byers, Wheeler and the nerds doubted him.

“ _The teachers and other assholes don’t ‘help’ him because they want to help him. They help him because they want to feel good about themselves. They want to feel like a damn hero for someone who doesn’t even need rescuing_.”

“Your lips are really soft,” Billy froze as the finger gently glided over his lower lip. He then saw Steve freeze too; it doesn’t take a genius to know that he was nervous. The movement of his Adam’s apple was all too telling. Plus, despite being blind, Steve’s eyes betrayed a lot of emotion.

“Harrington?’ Billy gently took Steve hand placing in back to his neck while gently scooting Steve onto his lap, Steve looked at him unsure, but he didn’t make any attempt at getting away ‘You feel that too?”

“Y-Yeah man,” Billy leaned in closer to where he was only an inch or so away from Steve’s lips, the brunette could clearly tell. Steve didn’t back away, he could feel the heat coming off Billy’s face, yet he didn’t move away.

“Show me what you want then, I promise I won’t bite, and I don’t tell,” Billy watched as the blind brunette he only met 2 something weeks ago was now locking lips with him. He closed his eyes circling his arms tightly around Steve waist, he felt the arms around his neck tighten as he got more and more into the kiss.

Before he knew it, he was pushing Steve to the bed, never once breaking the kiss. He consciously watched for any sign of resistance, but Steve wasn’t slowing down. Kissing Steve was different from kissing his one night stands, they were usually sloppy, messy and quick, but with Steve it felt sweet and gentle. But he could also sense some passion.

_"Pretty boy, has some fire in him after all."_

Billy could have done this all day until he heard the door opening in the front of the house. His blood went cold instantly, the memory of his dad catching him with a guy in Santa Monica was replaying in his head.

“Stevie?” a female voice yelled/called out. Billy recognized the voice instantly. It was Steve’s friend Robin.

_“What the hell is she doing here?”_

Steve got up off the bed immediately trying to find his cane, Billy saw it handing it over to Steve as the brunette got up to exit his room, “Yeah Rob? I was studying with Billy, I’m coming down!”

_“How the hell can he stay so calm?”_

Billy just stared at Steve in surprise, but he just went along with it. He followed Steve down the stairs surprised to see that Robin wasn’t alone. There was also a woman he recognized as being Steve’s mother and … a dog. The dog was a black German shepherd, she sat still and quietly but what stood out about her the most was the harness around her which read ‘do not pet, do not distract’ … oh.

_“So that’s why Harrington mom was gone.”_

Robin looked at Billy in slight surprise while his mom didn’t look surprised at all, maybe Steve already told her about Billy? He wanted to ask, but then again, he didn’t want to offer any reason for her to be suspicious. But she looked so kind, gentle and polished. Her appearance screamed ‘rich person’, but she didn’t have one ounce of snobbish like he expected. What stood out to him the most was the ‘smiling wrinkles’ near her eyes, her happy demeanor at seeing Steve was the obvious cause. It was obvious to Billy that Steve was the apple of his mother’s eye.

_“If only Neil didn’t take that away from me too.”_

“Uh, Steven?’ Steve looked in his mom’s direction, he clearly didn’t expect his mother to be here, ‘Why don’t you sit down for a second, I have a surprise for you.’

“Mom? Since when did you get here?” he asked while allowing Robin to lead him to a nearby couch. His mom had the biggest grin on her face that seemed to match Robin’s.

“Hello to you too, Steven,’ his mom chided jokingly, ‘Ok, I’m coming over.”

Billy watched in amusement as Steve’s face turned from confusion to being startled to being what he can only describe as being as happy as a kid on Christmas day, “Oh my God! It’s been 6 months already?”

“Yes sweetie,” his mom confirmed taking the dog over to Steve, as soon she let go of the dog’s harness the German shepherd went over to Steve noticing that he was using his hands to try and find her. Steve grin became even bigger as he felt her fur brush onto his fingers.

“She’s so soft! What breed is she?” Robin almost laughed at how excited Steve was.

“German shepherd, all black,” his mother answered, amused at her son interacting with the guide dog, ‘Her name is Jetta.”

“Jetta?” Billy asked.

Steve mom turned to him smiling gently, “Yeah, because she was the fastest guide dog they had. She was supposed to be police dog, but they said she was ‘too gentle’ to be one, so she became a guide dog instead.”

Billy felt his eyebrows raise, “ _Damn. He’s got a dog GPS and guard dog at the same time.”_

“Wait 6 months?” Steve’s mom let out a sigh.

“Unfortunately, yes, guide dogs can take months to get and arrange,’ she explained, Billy looked at her in interest, ‘I was waitlisted for three months then I had to wait three more months to be matched up. I wasn’t supposed to get a guide dog till next month but the man who was arranged to Jetta cancelled because he couldn’t afford her or the payment plan for her.”

To say that Billy was shocked was putting it lightly, “That much?”

Steve’s mother just smiled sadly, “I’m afraid so. Even with our economic status it put a dent in our money, many blind people need these dogs but with training, vet care and the rising costs of even getting the dog most people either cancel or get loans. It’s horrible. Nobody chooses to blind.”

“Mom,’ Steve interrupted, both Billy and his mom looked in his direction, ‘I’m sorry to interrupt your talk on the struggles of blind people, but I don’t think you two met yet. That’s Billy Hargrove, the same guy I mentioned on the phone yesterday.”

“Oh, you’re Billy!’ His mom exclaimed, ‘It’s nice to have a name to a face.”

“Can’t say the same thing here,” she and Billy looked at Steve in annoyance. Billy would have laughed on the spot after seeing his moms face.

_“She so done with him and his shit,”_ his mom then went to Steve ruffling his hair. Steve’s mom score 1, Steve score 0.

“Ma!” he whined childishly trying to fix his hair; Robin just laughed hugging Steve’s neck to which he struggled to get out of her grip. Billy felt jealous, he would trade places with Steve in a fucking instant. He would be blind and all if it meant having real friends, a career goal to look forward to and a mom that was around.

It seemed Steve’s mom could sense his inner turmoil.

“Billy?’ she looked at him in worry, ’I was going to reheat some eggplant parmesan and I have cannoli- “

“Hai comprato cannoli?” Steve interrupted sounding excited. His mother turned to him with a sharp glare. 

“Prima cena!” Steve just smirked back, to which his mom rolled her eyes. Again Billy was surprised and entertained.

_“I guess that Italian rumor was actually true.”_

“I need to call-“ 

“Our phone is in the kitchen,” Billy already knew this wasn’t going to go good. But what the hell, he saw literal monsters last night make a meal out of Steve’s leg, so he could deal with Neil for the night. It felt like an eternity until he heard Neil pick up, “Hargrove residence.” 

“It’s me Billy- “

“Where the hell are you? We were about to have dinner,” Neil demanded. So much for pleasantries, then again that word didn’t really coexist with Neil unless it with complete strangers who didn’t know what an asshole he actually was.

“I’m at Steve Harrington house- “

“How do I know you’re not bullshitting me like you did in California?”

“Dad, I’m at Harrington’s house! What do I have to say to convince you- “suddenly the phone was taken out of Billy’s hand. He was shocked to see it wasn’t Steve, but rather his mother. 

“Hello, am I speaking to a Mister Hargrove?” she asked. Her voice was now a thick sweet sounding over exaggerated Italian accent, Billy was dumbstruck. He then knew right then and there this was going to be good, or dig his grave, one of the two. Either it would be entertaining. 

“Why yes,’ he could hear his father speak in a more gentleman type of voice, he always did that shit with women, especially women with ‘un-American’ accents, or Susan ‘And may I ask who is this?”

“Valentina Harrington, I am Steve’s mother. I’m so grateful that your son came here tonight. You see sir, my son is blind, and your son offered to read the book outload since Steven’s braille book was running late in the mail,” Billy couldn’t help but stare at her in shock. She came with a whole elaborate story out of nowhere with ease. She really was Steve’s mother. 

_“I guess being witty and a smartass runs in the family.”_

“Why I see. I didn’t realize that’s why he was out.”

“Yes, I’m sorry he is out late. I invited him to eat here so he could finish the chapter tonight, would that be alright with you?”

“As long as my son continues to be as responsible and respectful as he is now, I don’t see why not. As long as it’s not bothering you mam- “ 

“Of course not. He is actually a great help to me.”

“I’m glad to hear that Mrs. Harrington, could I please talk to my son again? And thank you for taking time of your day to speak to me,’ Billy wanted to throw up at the corny fake polite line. Valentina then handed Billy back the phone, he almost dropped the phone in surprise. ‘Boy?”

“Yes sir?” 

“Be home by 11, I’m glad to hear that you’re already straightening up. But you better not let that cripple take up more time then necessary, you go that? And don’t cause the lovely Italian lady any issues, you hear me?” Billy saw Valentina purse her lips when she heard the ‘cripple’ part loud and clear. He imagined that hearing those insults hurt her ten times worse than Steve.

“Yes, sir- “before Billy speak more the line went dead. Neil obviously hung up. Billy put the phone back slowly before looking back at Valentina. She let out a sarcastic laugh.

“Call’s me a lovely Italian woman but then insults my son,’ she scuffs, getting soda out of the fridge, ‘Qualcuno dovrebbe paralizzare ciò che lo rende un uomo-“

“Ma!” Steve yelled out sounding embarrassed. Billy was totally lost. What the hell did she say? 

“What?”

“She said ‘someone should cripple what makes your dad a man- “ 

“Steven!” now she was embarrassed. Billy started laughing uncontrollably. This was too damn funny to him. Steve and his mother didn’t even acknowledge him they just kept arguing in Italian. It was almost comical especially when he saw Valentina slapped Steve’s hand away from the cannoli’s, he didn’t even question how Steve knew they were there.

He saw Robin walk over to the table, as she passed him. She gave small smirk leading him to the table with the food she heated up in the microwave. Steve’s guide dog now had her harness off and was snoozing away on her dog bed. He saw Robin pet her gently, wasn’t the dog supposed to be well ... working?

“Isn’t the dog supposed to with Harrington?”

“Not 24/7, Hargrove,’ the dog was now kicking her leg in response to the petting, ‘Guide dogs have time when they are just regular dogs. Right now, she’s resting up it been a long day for her. And considering she will have to lead Steve around she will need all the rest she needs.” 

_“Well, she isn’t wrong.”_

Billy kneeled down petting the body of black fur, the German shepherd was now panting with the big pink tongue flopping around. He felt himself grinning, Neil didn’t allow pets, but he loved dogs. Plus, he had to admit the dog was an adorable it was no wonder she and Steve got along instantly. 

_“Wait, why the fuck am I thinking that. Dammit! First I make out with him, now I’m calling him cute … how was I supposed to know he was a fag too?”_

Unknown to him Robin was watching him closely and could see the amount of conflict that his face was betraying. It wasn’t until Steve and his mother came over that she saw Billy’s face brighten up a bit. Robin smiled, she saw the whole situation and the interaction between the two stupid boys instantly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Not so accurate) Italian translation:
> 
> Hai comprato cannoli?: Did you buy cannoli?
> 
> Prima cena!: First dinner!
> 
> Qualcuno dovrebbe paralizzare ciò che lo rende un uomo-: Someone should paralyze(cripple) what makes him a man-
> 
> Please leave a comment! Thank you!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Holidays everyone! Stay home and stay safe!
> 
> WARNING!
> 
> Contains ableist language and mistreatment.   
> Small references to homophobia and internalized homophobia.

**Chapter 5 – The Café Bitch**

**\- Hargrove House, 8:34 PM –**

Billy couldn’t sleep or relax or focus on anything for that matter, he was trying so hard to get back whatever drumming skills he did actually have, but random books, magazines and pencils were not even close to being like the real thing.

“Ok that’s enough torture for one night,” Billy whispered to himself. He still wanted to slap himself for being roped into this so easily, what had become of him? In California no one told him what to do, yet one blind guy was enough to undo all of that. Not to mention he is risking himself to possibly being beaten by Neil if he found out that Billy was into a ‘fairy’ activity.

“ _How the hell does Harrington play with no eyesight? I have damn eyes and I’m struggling to get these drums down,_ ” Billy then looked around his room before closing his eyes. He wondered ...

He gently walked towards his wardrobe where he knew his cologne was, but the more he walked the slower he found himself going. There was an underlying anxiety that entered his body. It made him made him feel so small, he felt so confident most of the time in his movements, but having no eyesight seemed to rob him of that control.

_“Well, it’s not like Harrington could control what his retinas did … come on Hargrove, just find your-_ ” suddenly a bottle landing on the carpet floor made him open his eyes, he wasn’t even facing his mirror. He was at the fucking wardrobe.

_“How the hell can I be this off?”_ loud knocks filled the room.

“What the hell is going on in there?” he could hear his father demanding.

“Nothing Dad! Just dropped my cologne!”

“If you ruin the carpet, I’ll beat you ass with my belt!” Billy rolled his eyes. Ruining the carpet would be the least of his worries if his Dad found out what he was really doing.

“Yes sir!” and much to his relief, he heard Neil walk away. He clearly had no idea about Billy’s new activity, so the less he knew the better.

As Billy laid on his bed, he had millions of questions. How could Steve play with no eyesight? Would he actually be ready in time?

_“If Harrington can play with no eyesight, I have no damn excuse, I can’t give a bullshit performance-_ “he then felt himself froze. Why was he so worried about disappointing Steve? he barley the guy he shouldn’t fucking care, should he?

Scenes of Steve kicking Tommy’s ass, beating up what that fucking dog thing was and playing guitar were all flashing in his mind. But the one memory that really shook him to his core was the kiss, his heart was beating so fast, he had to hold every ounce of self-control not thrust his groin against Steve’s hips as he was scooted on his lap. And most of all …

The damn eyes that looked at with more love than any eye sighted person could person could ever give him before. Even as he locked lips with him and pinned him against the fluffy soft sheets-

“ _FUCK!”_

Billy flipped himself over burying his face in his pillow before angrily grabbing his hair. It was then he realized he had lost all control.

_“What the fuck have I gotten myself into? I’m in so fucking deep, God dammit!”_

**\- Three Days Later, Harrington House, 3:25 PM -**

**“** Ok, let’s go over this again,’ Steve instructed the group, currently they were all gathered in his living room, his mom was out for the day meaning that they had the whole house to themselves. Which meant they could plan out their concert gig in peace.

’Since Hargrove is new here, for the first song we will play ‘pour some sugar on me’ and then we follow that up by ‘rock you like a hurricane- “

“Don’t you guys have your own songs?” Billy interrupted.

Steve signed, “Yes but the club owner only allows bands to play covers. But hey if they like us on stage, they will still buy our cassettes.”

“That a bullshit rule.”

“We know, ‘Heather interrupted, looking just as annoyed as Steve did, ‘but we aren’t ditching a spot that took 4 months to secure.”

“Ok let’s start rock you a hurricane, the drum line is fairly easy to pick up by ear- “

“Wait, so no notes?” Billy knew this was going to go fast, but even he found himself struggling to keep up with what the two girls and lead guitarist were planning.

“We don’t have time today,’ Steve stated, he had the look of guilt, ‘I’ll help you pick it up Hargrove don’t worry about it. We still have a month to get this down.”

Robin looked at Billy with a reassuring smile, “Come on Hargrove, if pretty boy here can learn to play with his ears only then you can do this shit.”

Billy didn’t feel anymore relived then before, quite the opposite. He felt even more pressure to get this right.

_“I will not fuck this up.”_

“Harrington, mind if we finish early for today? My dad wants me home for dinner tonight. Apparently, the cousin is in town,” Heather interrupted, she looked sorry but Steve and Robin didn’t appear upset at all, they looked more relieved than anything else.

“I’m pretty tired myself, let’s just relax for today and pick up on Monday,” Steve instructed. The two girls seemed to agree silently. Heather got up grabbing her bag before kneeling down to kiss both sides of Steve’s face, Billy felt himself jolt in surprise.

_“What the fuck?”_

“Addio e buona giornata!” Heather yelled out before shutting the door.

Billy finally broke out his confused state, “Does everyone speak Italian here or what?”

“Na, that’s the only phase she knows,’ Steve confirms, ‘and she always gives me the Italian kiss, because she saw my mom do it one time and loves to embarrass- I mean remind me.”

_“I wish that was me- wait what the fuck am I thinking?”_ Robin quirked her eyebrow at Billy. The gay panic on his face was painfully obvious to her. Her face just read ‘gay and straight men are idiots.”

“Hargrove,’ Steve knocked Billy out his inner torment, ‘You want coffee with me and Rob? There is a diner right up the road that sells good coffee for dirt cheap.”

“Just say yes Hargrove, dingus will keep asking you till you say no,” Robin interrupted ignoring the elbow jab from Steve.

“As long as Harrington is paying,” Billy stated. Robin grinned nodding back before giving him a small wink. Billy felt his heart stop.

_“She’s on to us.”_

“Ok, let’s go,” Steve began walking out of the living room with Jeta by his side. Today he didn’t have his cane with him, but then again, they were going to a cafe, so it wasn’t like he needed it anyways especially with his dog with him.

“Which car should we take?” Steve asked.

Robin raised her hand, “Let’s take mine, mine already has dog hair. Plus, pretty sure Jeta prefers a car that she familiar with.”

“Good point, hey Hargrove? Can you watch after Jeta while Rob is driving-“?

“Fine,” he agreed without even fighting it. He conveniently ignored the smirk Robin had on her face, but Steve looked obvious and blissfully aware. Billy wasn’t sure if it was because of Steve’s lack of vison or if the guy was oblivious dumbass. Either way it was strangely endearing to him and just made Steve more interesting to him.

As they all got into the car and onto the road, Billy ignored the chatter in favor to petting the dog. Billy loved dogs but Neil was the living definition of a pet hater, so he was going to take the opportunity.

After a few minutes he decided that he should probably speak before either of them gets suspicious of him, or before Robin attempted to psychoanalyze him with Steve in the car to witness everything.

“So, Harrington, I must say you actually have some good taste in music- “

“Stevie’s music taste is much better now; you should have seen him before- “Robin laughed. Now Billy was interested.

“Oh God, here we go- “Steve sighed, rubbing his forehead.

“He was always into pop and Loved Madonna- “

“Seriously?” Billy snorted. Not only did his distraction work but was getting more dirt on Steve that he wasn’t even after.

“Shut up, I was 14- “

“You still listen to Madonna Stevie- “Steve raised his hands in surrender.

“Ok, ok! What about you and your Joan Jett obsession- “

“Joan Jett is a rock icon that could be bowed down to and respected like all the other male musicians. Having a dick doesn't equal to being a good musician,” Robin retaliated confidently. But that did little to distract Billy.

“Harrington you like Madonna?” he laughed. Steve pursed his lips together before mock laughing at the question.

“Yes, and queen. I don’t believe in guilty pleasures I like what I like, only a poser metalhead would get offended at being asked if he like something outside his ‘genre’.” Billy glared him, he felt so called out by a guy who couldn’t even be audience. Member to his own displeasure. Robin on the other hand was all too amused by this exchange.

**\- Hawkins Café and Diner –**

The finally made it there and were seated after 15 minutes of waiting, the waitress smiled flirtishly at Billy before leading to the dining area. Billy just smiled back, trying his best to pretend to be flirty.

As they sat down at the four person table, they had no idea that a couple tables over the party were all sitting together and could see the trio with ease.

“Why is he here?” Max asked in confusion. She thought Billy hated this place, yet he was always around Steve and that dirty blonde hair girl. Granted he was less on her case, but still something about this was odd to her.

Dustin noticed the same unusual event, “And why is he with Steve and Robin?”

“And why does he have a dog with him?” Will pointed at the dog. Suddenly everyone was interested in the dog. El and Will looked the most excited while even Lucas and Mike looked slightly interested. Max faced the group with raised eyebrows.

“Uh, nerds? It’s probably a guide dog, you know it leads Steve around since he can’t see?”

El had a big grin on her face, “Can I pet it- “

Max sighed a little bit, she was normally annoyed by people like that, but to her El was an expectation, “I don’t think that a good idea. Steve needs her to see for him- “

"Uh, guys?” Will interrupted pointing at a booth that was near where the band trio was.

The group saw a middle age looking couple who were scowling at the trio, Dustin didn’t like them, “What the hell is their problem?”

Max had seen assholes like that in California, but they usually minded their own business. But this already didn’t look like the case. The middle-aged lady got up from the table without her husband to approach the table, she looked pissed, “Oh crap …”

“Uh, they have new holiday drinks, peppermint mocha and pumpkin pie cream- “Robin was reading the menu out load for Steve while Billy read the menu silently. They didn’t even notice the storm that was about to happen.

“Um excuse me, young man?” the lady asked in a fake sweet voice. Billy looked at her in annoyance, her voice sounded like Neil’s. All fake and nice sounding because it meant to hide utter distain and self-righteousness.

Billy nudged Steve gently catching his attention, Steve looked in Billy’s direction, “Harrington, she's talking to you.”

Billy gently tapped Steve’s other shoulder to silently tell him which direction to look in, “Uh yes?”

“Honey, I know you may like your dog, but this is an eating establishment, what if it has fleas or other dirt- “

“Ma’am,’ Robin interrupted, the lady’s ‘kind look’ quicky faded away, ‘That’s his service dog. He needs her to see- “

“He looks healthy to me,” she interrupted rolling her eyes. Billy looked at her with utter disgust. Unknown to him a few tables over his sister was giving her the exact same look.

“I am,’ Steve confirmed, sounding calm but aggravated, ‘But I can’t see. So, she guides me around- “

“Hon, with all due respect you should not be here if your … condition is that bad,” Billy felt his eyes widen. He knew he was an asshole with no filter but even he wouldn't stoop that low, unless warranted of course. This lady was looking for a fight.

_“This bitch is trying to look like the victim.”_

“I’ll keep that in mind,’ Steve snipped, any trace of politeness was gone from his voice as he subconsciously held Jeta closer to him. The dog looked up at him, she could feel how tense and upset her master was, ‘Now can you leave us alone? We'll move tables if it’s such as huge deal for you.”

That wasn't good enough for the lady, “Leave or I’ll get the owner- “

“Ma’am I have the right to be here- HEY!” Suddenly the woman decided to grab the dog’s harness and Steve’s arm. All but manhandling him out of his seat. The party watched this with their mouths dropped down.

Dustin was the first to react getting out his seat, he didn’t even hesitate to march over to the table, “Whoa, whoa! What are you doing?!”

“Get your hands off him!” Robin yelled, getting up to push the lady away from Steve, but she wouldn’t let go of Steve’s jacket. Soon everyone in the diner was staring at the scene. Some in horror, some in fasciation while some just stared because they couldn't believe what they were seeing.

“ _These shitheads are watching this like it’s some car wreck.”_ Just as Billy thought things couldn’t get worse, they did.

“And get rid of those stupid glasses!” Billy felt his face pale, he knew Steve was sensitive about his eyes. And Steve made his distress crystal clear, as soon as he felt the glasses leave his face, he tried to reach back for them.

“Give those back!” his eyes were wide open and anyone with an ounce of common sense could tell that his eyes weren’t focusing on anything. That lady was someone with no common sense.

“Quit the retard act, I know you can see! Your eyes aren’t even white!” it also didn’t help that Steve accidently hit her in face while trying to find his sunglasses. The lady looked at him like he just committed murder.

“Does your mother teach you any manners?! If you were my kid, I would belt you on the spot!”

“Give those back to him, you fuckin’ bitch!” Billy growled finally shaking himself out of his mortification, he was too fucking pissed to put on a fake nice act. She just held them out of his reach.

It was like a three-way tug of war, Steve and Robin were trying to keep the now stressed dog away from her while Billy was trying to pull Steve away from the woman’s grip. Billy would have tugged more but he was silently afraid of hurting Steve by accident.

“Let go!” Robin yelled, finally the woman let go of Steve and Jeta’s leash. She didn’t look one bit apologetic. In fact, she looked angrier than before. Like she was the one who was wronged

Max finally had enough, she went to the lady all but ripping the glasses out of the lady’s hands. The lady was about to turn her rath onto Max, but the redhead wasn’t about to allow it.

“What the hell is your problem?” she asked handing the glasses over to Billy who then handed them back to Steve, he just looked down in embarrassment. He didn’t say a word as he sat back down with Billy. Robin on the other hand remained standing up.

Billy felt both infuriated and crushed. See the sarcastic brunette suddenly curl up trying yo avoid the outside world was something he hated seeing. He soon saw red. He didn’t care if he got in more trouble than he already did from the last few minutes.

He stood up behind Steve, glaring murderously at the woman, “You fucking cunt- “

“What the hell is going on in here?” Billy froze. Now in front of the table was a chubby beer bellied man along with the town chief, Hopper.

“ _Lady luck is trying to fuck me over._ ”

“Dan, this boy thinks he can just come in and bring a dog in here where people are eating- “

“Mrs. McKenny, with all due respect you are the only one bothering these kids,’ the chubby man, Dan, answered, ‘and Hopper here saw everything from his table. So please tell me why you would grab a kid, take his glasses and drag him around like a ragdoll?”

The woman was completely silent. She looked stunned that the owner wasn’t on her side.

_“Serves you right bitch.”_

At that the moment Billy noticed that he saw more and more familiar faces in the diner, including the group of kids he saw at school with Steve, and a woman whom he assumed was with Hopper who ,in no doubt, was there the whole time as well. In other words, it was easy to see everyone and know everyone in the café.

“ _Small town and same diner, don’t these people ever go outside of town_?”

‘And I can choose whom I want to serve and who I don’t. So, I can either move you to a table or you can take your business else wear. Everyone here is trying to have a good and you are ruining it for everyone here.”

All the lady did next was roll her eyes before going to her booth to get her handbag where her husband was looking down both in embarrassment and in compete mortification. It was almost comical to Billy when the husband chased after his wife while she stormed out. The man was obviously fully whipped by his wife and she wore the pants and the skirt in the family.

Dan turned to the rest of the dinner, “Nothing to see here folks! I apologize for the interruption!”

Soon everyone, just like that, went back to their regular business. Even Dustin and Max went back to their table after Hopper gave them a look of ‘Everything is ok’. To Billy it was odd that Steve wasn’t even to talk to them, but then again, he still looked horribly embarrassed. Hopper knocked on the table lightly catching the trio’s attention.

“Mind if we sit with you kids? In case another idiot comes along?”

Before either Robin or Billy could answer Steve spoke for the first time in minute, “Sure thing, Chief.”

Hopper smiled grabbing a chair while the same brunette woman from before came over to join them, sitting next to Robin. The lady looked friendly enough.

“You already have a new dog?” she asked smiling at the black German Shepard, who was now resting her head against Steve lap while he stroked her head, it was apparent to Billy that she was a very sensitive dog and could feel the weight of his emotions.

“Yup, Ma is full of surprises,” Steve joked. To everyone else he sounded normal, but Billy could sense the fake ‘I’m ok’ façade. Steve had faked being ok before plenty of times and it was more then visible, but the adults seemed to ignore to this or be blissfully unaware.

“Can I pet him?” she asked. Steve struggled his shoulders he felt around the table trying to find the lady. She quickly responded allowing him to feel her hands before handing over the leash.

“Sure, she’s pretty much on break anyways,” she smiled. Even Hopper was petting the dog. For the first time she noticed how confused Billy looked.

“Oh, I’m sorry! I don’t think we met, my name is Joyce Byers,” Billy shook her hand, she seemed nice enough. Maybe a little too nice.

“I’m Billy Hargrove,” Billy introduced himself. _“Byers? Wait, wouldn’t that make her-_

“By the way Steve, are you still going coming over on Monday for Will’s guitar lessons? Jonathan will be out for the night, but I’ll be home early that night- “

_“Jonathan Byers mom confirmed.”_

Although something still confused Billy, “Harrington, you tutor?”

“Yeah, I can’t really do anything else. Nor am I useful for anything else- “

“Steve,’ Hopper interrupted, it was clear he heard Steve had said something similar to that before, ‘Don’t say that ok? I got five kids who would fight you to the nail and tooth if they knew you said something like that.”

“Yeah …” Steve breathed out. Hopper, Joyce and Robin all had collective frowns. Billy didn’t know what to say, he was so used to Steve being confident in his own that this was too bizarre for him to comprehend.

_“Harrington, is your sarcastic ass just your way of coping with missing your eyesight?”_ the more he saw Steve not respond to questions and only listening to the conversation rather than contributing like he normally did, the more Billy felt like he was seeing a different side.

He was starting to see all the real sides to Steve. It was clear as day.


	6. Don’t Underestimate Steve Harrington

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The show begins, but it's not how Billy imagined it. 
> 
> WARNING:
> 
> Implied child abuse  
> Ableist language and treatment

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finally wrote this chapter after three failed attempts ... yeah its rushed as hell, but I hope you guys still enjoy it!
> 
> On brighter note, I finally got the hearing aids I waited for months to get! I forgot fridges made noises 0.0. 
> 
> Please comment if you can, they help me get inspiration and new ideas!

**Chapter 6: Don’t Underestimate Steve Harrington**

**Hawkins Medical Center**

“Well Mr. Harrington, I must say, your eyes are in very good shape, and from tests I see there is no sign of further vision loss, ‘ the doctor explained looking at the scans and tests he recently had taken during Steve’s exam. Steve just sat in his chair with Jeta. His dad was with him today, but he hadn’t said any words of comfort since appearing. He hated having his eyes checked, especially in front of his dad.

‘I’m confident that a young man as healthy as you will be able to recover just fine from cataract surgery. Your vison may even improve- “

“Improve, so he won’t be blind, he’ll actually _see_?” his father inquired. The doctor sighed silently; Steve knew his doctor was sick of hearing this shit from his father too.

“Mr. Harrington … as I explained before, for five years. Your son’s vision will never be as it was before. Cataract surgier can give improvements, but how much it will improve will depend on your son. Every patient’s improvement is subjective- “

“So, yes it will improve his vision- “at that moment Steve was happy his sunglasses shielded some of his annoyed expression from his father.

“Dad, I already know I won’t get my vison back, the last five years confirmed that- “

“What’s the soonest date he can get surgery?” his father demanded, despite it being five plus years he still believed Steve would magically regain his vision and that he would be ‘normal’.

“Um,’ Steve raised his hand to get his doctor attention, but his doctor already started announcing the dates, ‘We have a slot two weeks from now. Is there another date- “

“He will take that date,” Steve felt his heart stop.

“Whoa, whoa! Dad, I have a show coming up!”

“God, cut that crap, Steven!’ Steve felt his cheeks turn pink, he knew a fight was coming,’ You need a damn dog to know where you’re going, you can’t even drive a car or get a job like normal kids can!”

“I get good grades, and I do have a job- “

“Oh yeah, teaching kids to strung some strings is very impressive!” Steve was used to his dad expressing disappointment in him but using his blindness against him never got easier. His mom and friends were fine with it, why did his dad have to an ass about it?

“Just wait a bit longer then!” he pleaded; he could feel the eye roll coming from his dad.

“You will get the surgery! And if you can’t perform your damn show, then too damn bad. The sooner you let go of that pipe dream the better!” in that moment Steve decided he didn’t just dislike his dad, he fucking hated him.

The drive home wasn’t much better. It comprised of Steve and his father arguing back and forth frrom the front to back seat, while Jeta laid her head on her master’s lap. That did little to comfort Steve, even as they entered their home.

“You never let me fucking do anything!”

“Watch your mouth!’ his father growled slamming the door shut, the sound started Jeta to which Steve petted her head trying to calm her down. His father let out a long sigh, ‘I should have sent you to that damn blind school in Chicago like I originally wanted- “

Steve froze. That was the last straw.

“Why?! You never see me anyways! You already get your wish! Mom is the only in this house that gives a shit about me!” Steve knew by now his dad’s head was about to explode, but he didn’t care. He knew his father wasn’t above hitting him blind or not.

He still remembered being spanked a number of times by his father for accidently running into lamps or other glass when he was younger despite the doctor’s telling him not move shit around the house constantly. For this reason alone, Steve used the cane in his own house, he never knew when his father decided to be a smartass and not listen to doctor’s orders or suggestions.

Thankfully today he wouldn’t have the chance to punish Steve. He heard his mom came running down the stairs, “What is going on here?! I can hear you two from upstairs!”

_“Can this get any worse?”_

His father all but stomped to where his mom was standing near the end of the stairway, “Your son is getting surgery in two weeks and he can forget his ‘show’- “

“Richard! What have I told you- “ Valentina demanded.

“Maybe if our son got punished like a man should, then he wouldn’t be acting out all the damn time!” his father really didn’t know anything about his son. Steve threw his dogs harness out of his hand before walking towards where he heard his parents standing.

He knew his father was rolling his eyes, “Steven, what have I said about walking around. -“

“I already get teachers wailing on my ass since jerks like you like using me to vent out their frustration!” 

Valentines turned to Steve in shock, “What?”

That was the moment Steve knew he messed up, “Nothing, Ma. Teachers paddle me and stuff sometim-Ma!”

Without waiting for her son’s permission, Valentina forced Steve to turn around and lifted up her son’s shirt. She was met with thick bruises that were decorated on his lower back; she could tell his bottom was bruised the worst.

“Who did this?” she questioned, quietly. Steve knew that voice. She only talked in that hushed voice when his mother was really angry.

“At least someone is disciplining him!” soon the pair started arguing nonstop over each other. Steve started walking upstairs all but dragging his guide dog with him, although she didn’t exactly object to getting away from all the loud noise.

Steve let go of his dog’s harness, not even noticing that he partially shut the door, blocking his dog from entering with him.

As soon as Steve met his bed, he thew his sunglasses across the room, only to hear a picture frame fall to the ground and glass shatter on the wood floor. He could hear his dog whine as she opened the rest of the door with her head, he felt so mad he didn’t notice when his dog came inside and cuddled next to him. All he thought to do was curl up in his bed and finally allow himself to cry out all. The anger and frustration built up inside of him.

He sighed heavily before crawling carefully towards where the picture landed. The glass that cut his skin gave him the answer, “Shit!”

He knew the photo. It was of him and his mother in New York right after seeing a movie, ironically it was the last memory he had where he could actually see pretty decently in a darkened room. At the time he had no idea his vision loss would progress the way it did. The brunette sighed heavily, he didn’t want to remember or grieve about his sight.

Steve crawled back into bed where his dog was, deciding that falling a dreamless sleep was a better alter to feeling sorry for himself.

He didn’t even notice or hear his parents argument go into silence downstairs, or his dad speeding away in his car or his mother coming in his room to clean up the glass that was stuck inside his fingers and knuckles. But he did notice her warm hands go through his hair and her soft lips land his cheek as she whispered, “ _Ti voglio bene_.“

As she left the room Steve Harrington had only one thought on his mind:

_“I will go to that show if it’s the last fucking thing I do.”_

**-1 weeks later: Band Room – 3:15 –**

“Ok let’s start from the top!” Robin yelled. All four were inside the band room together, thankfully none of the clubs were in school today, it was Friday after all. But the band didn’t have that luxury, they needed to get the songs down and perfect, they only had one week left till they could perfect their chosen songs they were allowed to play at the club.

Steve stung his guitar slightly before clearing his throat to get the groups attention, “Let’s play pour some sugar on me just for today since we have ‘Rock You Like Hurricane’ down pretty good- “

“Uh, Harrington?” Billy interrupted looking at the brunette in confusion.

“Yeah?”

“I thought you said you had surgery- “

“I’ll be at the club Hargrove, don’t worry your blonde head about it,” Heather looked at the two men in confusion before looking at Robin.

“How does Steve know he has blonde hair?” Robin said nothing, instead she gave a small smirk. Before pointing her back and forth in Steve and Billy’s direction. Heather’s eyes widen before biting her lip to muffle her laughs. Billy gave both girls the finger lipping “ _shut the fuck up_!”. That almost made both girls laugh outload.

Steve cleared his throat again, too focused to care about what was going on in front of him, “From the top guys.”

Billy was still pissed but he quickly changed his focus, Steve started playing his guitar solo for the intro, they decided to use the actual music video from Def Leopard instead of the studio version. Because one, that what they preferred as group and two it sounded much better in a club.

Soon Billy’s started playing his drum portion, he was going so fast he felt smaller pieces of his hair get caught in his mouth (again). No matter how much he spat them out his hair still got in his mouth somehow.

“ _Note to self: buy fukcin hair ties, hair covered in sweet cologne and hairspray tastes disgusting_ ”, Robin smirked slightly at the blonde’s silent struggle, to her it was amusing watching the normally confident and strong jock get defeated by his own hair. She wished Steve could see this.

_Love is like a bomb, baby, c'mon get it on, Livin' like a lover with a radar phone_ ,’ Steve began to sing. Soon the whole band was playing as the music began to swell, _‘Lookin' like a tramp, like a video vamp, Demolition woman, can I be your man? (your man)_

Billy tried his best to play the drums like he remembered, he only had the past week or so to fully memorize the drum portion. It was a lot of work when you only had your ears to work with.

_Razzle 'n' a dazzle 'n' a flash a little light, Television lover, baby, go all night_

Billy couldn’t help but silently admire Steve even more after the past two weeks, “ _This shit is more exhausting than basketball practice. Then again, pretty boy has been doing this for years without any sheet music, only his ears … how the fuck does he do this?”_

_Sometime, anytime, sugar me sweet, Little miss innocent sugar me, yeah, yeah_

He noticed for the past few weeks that he knew Steve that the brunette was doing things for the band that was far more difficult to pull off then people give credit for. People see bands like Kiss and Motely Crue perform in front of millions all the time and think its all glam and glitz. As of last week Billy knew that was a fucking lie.

_Now c'mon, take a bottle, shake it up, Break the bubble, break it up_

Starting a band was hard fucking work, musicians weren’t born, they were made. Sweat rolled down Billy’s brow, but he didn’t care, he would get this fuckin song down, “ _This is just further proof that Rockstars aren’t craped out of the sky. They are people that work their asses off to get where they are.”_

_Pour some sugar on me, Ooh, in the name of love, Pour some sugar on me, C'mon, fire me up_

The rest of the two-hour long practice kept going on until everyone in the group was now sweating and exhausted from playing their instruments. Playing to hard rock music was easier listened to then performed. Steve tapped his mic to get everyone’s attention, ”Let’s call it a night, plus pretty sure we are about to get kicked out.”

“Thank fuck!” Billy rasped. By this time his hair was tied in loss bun and he had no shirt on. He looked far removed from the bravado jock most people in the school were accustomed to. Heather and Robin were trying their best to stiffen their laughter.

“Tired Hargrove?” Heather asked in a fake concerned voice, Billy tilted his head back still panting like he ran a marathon.

“Fuck off Holloway,” Heather just laughed back while putting away her bass in its assigned case. Steve placed his guitar back in its case as well, on the outside he looked like hot mess express. His hair was everywhere, covered in sweat, sticking up in random directions, but to Billy he looked damn good in comparison.

_“How the fuck is he still put together after this?”_ Billy stopped panting placing his white tank top back on before clearing his throat to get Steve’s attention from across the room.

“Harrington, are you sure you can make it?’ he saw Steve stiffen, he knew Steve hated talking about his surgery or even hearing mention of it, ’Cause I still expect some pay out from this- “

“Don’t worry Hargrove, I’ll be there, just don’t ask questions,” Steve walked away to go to the bathroom before could effectively interrogate answers out of him.

“ _What the hell you planning Harrington?”_ time to go to the next best source.

“Buckley,’ Robin turned to him raising her eyebrows, she looked too tired to give a snarky remark, ‘I thought he had cataract surgery next week?”

“He does, all thanks to his asshole dad,” she shrugged.

Was Billy being left out of something? “But the show-“

Heather signed, before approaching Billy while Robin continued packing up, “It’s the day after his surgery- “

“How are we supposed to play?”

“Listen. Hargrove,’ Heather ordered,”Just listen to me and Buckley. Stevie will make it. Don’t worry your tanned skin about it.”

With that Heather and Robin began to walk out with their cases and backpacks, she turned around facing the blonde one more time, “Tell Steve we’ll meet again Monday and Wednesday.”

Billy stood in the room, alone in his dumbfounded state. What the hell was going on?

Minutes later Billy got up and left, seeing from far away Steve was now outside the building waiting for a car to pull up. Normally he drove Steve home but tonight he asked Jonathan to watch after his guide dog during practice and drive him home (which the dog loving Byer Brothers had no objection to, plus dog ears and loud equipment weren’t a good combo).

Something was off to Billy. What was Steve really up to? Was Jonathan involved? He hadn’t felt this suspicious since that day those weird dog things dragged Harrington on the ground. Something was up and he would find out one way or another.

_“Why do I feel like some crazy shit is about to happen?_

**\- One week later: Hawkins Club-**

Billy was surprised. That was three words that often didn’t meet together, but tonight was an exception. He had to admit the club wasn’t the redneck club he expected, it was actually pretty good, sure it had the same drunken men who get blacked out and that one singer who thinks they are the shit, when in reality they are shit at singing, but considering it was in Hawkins it wasn’t half bad. Hell, even by California standards this place was pretty good.

But his surprise was quickly replaced by worry. He, Robin and Heather were all ready to go on stage in 15 minutes, but Steve was nowhere to be found. Billy had his tied back (thank God the drum area was fairly dark, and no one would see him), had his leather pants and decided not to button up his red shirt at all due to all the sweat he knew he would produce. But as of now his clothing and stage presence was the least of his worries.

“Are you sure about this Buckley? Last I check we can’t do this set without a fuckin’ singer.”

Robin rolled her eyes the best she could with her heavy eyeshadow and crimped hair, “Believe me muscles, Stevie will get here. Don’t even question it- “  
  


“Hey guys. Sorry I’m late,” Billy turned around expecting Steve to look all decked out and dressed up in rocker chic clothing like the rest of them. That’s not what he got.

Steve was in short summery a walking disaster, a far cry from his usual get up. He couldn’t even see Steve’s face, in place was two large eye patches covering his eyes, followed by a thick white band that circled around his head. That wasn’t all though, he was only wearing a hospital gown, a black robe and fucking no-slip socks. He wasn’t even wearing shoes. But it was his hair that really caught his attention. He never thought he would say this, but his hair looked awful, even in band practice his hair looked more put together.

Billy felt himself staring at the brunette much like fish in its bowl, “ _How can someone who always looks put together look like train wreck?”_

Not far from Steve was Jonathan who had Steve’s white cane, looking guilty but then again, he didn’t exactly fight tooth and nail to keep Steve at the hospital either. Instead, he folded the cane, placing it in his bag before hurriedly trying to set up his camera and other equipment.

_“His more concerned about taking pictures then about kidnapping a blind guy from the hospital. After he got fuckin surgery?”_ Billy felt this heart race, Neil possibly finding out about the band was bad enough but that and being involved in sneaking out a post-surgery patient out a hospital? The universe had a fucked-up sense of humor.

Robin grabbed onto to Steve, gently helping him strap up his guitar, was this real? These freaks couldn’t be serious, for the first time in his life Billy felt like the responsible one.

Billy could only shout the first thing that came to his mind, “What the fuck?!”


	7. The Performance That Stole Hawkins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The band performs and several revelations are made during the performance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided to finish this chapter early (and in a slight rush), since I'm supposed to begin two separate jobs within the next few weeks and I'm not not sure when I will be able to update. Sorry about that! 
> 
> Please comment and let me know what you think! Thank you!

**Chapter 7 – The Performance That Stole Hawkins**

“Harrington!’ Billy barked, even in a loud club his voice was clearly heard, ’Are you fucking out of your mind!?”

Steve turned his head into his direction, allowing Robin to fix his hair the best she could without disturbing his bandages, “Nope, it was my eyes that were operated on. My mind is perfectly fine- “

“Harrington!”

“Look, I’ll go back to the hospital after the set, ok? Besides pretty sure they want these back, ”That was then Billy saw the two IV's on his right arm and an additional one on his left arm, the clear plastic cover the IVs were bloody.

“ _How the fuck is he not worried_?” Billy had been hospitalized enough times to know those things could get infected was ease, hell, even he got a blood clot, and he was in a fucking sterile hospital.

“You crazy fuck,” Billy mumbled, whether Steve heard him or not he didn’t know, but he had to admit one thing; the guy had surpassed his stubbornness level by max 100 times.

“Come on Stevie, lets fix you up,” Robin interrupted the pair, she went behind him to tighten his hospital gown so no one would see a full moon right in the middle of the set. Billy was silently jealous of her; he would switch spots in an instant.

_“I can do one thing though,”_ He went through his backpack finally digging out what he was looking. He returned back to Steve tapping his shoulder, the brunette turned to his direction.

“Here,’ Steve perked up reaching out to Billy’s hand, he looked genuinely surprised to feel leather meeting his hands, ‘A leather jacket has more stage presence then … that.”

The brunette gave a small smirk, “Thanks man.”

A club worker went behind stage clapping his hands loud enough for the whole band to hear, "Guys, you’re on in 5! Let’s go!”

Billy did a quick mental check while placing his mic headset on, “ _Hair tied, arms stretched, drumsticks- fuck, why is my heart racing so fast?”_

“Shit!’ Steve shouted, affectively startling Billy out any thoughts he had, ‘Where are my picks?!”

“Right here!” Heather shouted, she handed one to Steve before returning to her bass.

Billy looked in Steve’s and Robin’s direction one last time before he knew had to go on stage, being the drummer, he knew he was supposed to go first, but allowed himself a second to mazed by Robin’s quick work. Steve looked way more put together, granted he still looked like a hospital patient, but hey, at least people would remember their band. A blind guitarist was already eye-catching enough, but a blind guy who escaped fort eh hospital after surgery with bloody ivs still attached him?

_“Harrington could be a fucking competitor to Metallica if has willing to go this far to perform.”_

“Ok Hargrove, you’re up!” the same club worker from before yelled. Billy let a deep breathe before taking his first steps. His thought his heart was going to explode.

**\- In the Club Crowd-**

“Are you sure he is here? Last I spoke he just got out of surgery, “Dustin asked Nancy. He and the rest of the party stood around the Burnette anxiously waiting for the answer. He also hoped he didn't beg his mom for no reason, it one of the few nights the club allowed minors (granted as long as they stayed out of the bar area), needless to say he and the party did all this just watch Steve perform.

Nancy rolled her eyes slightly, “Jonathan phoned me right as they left, Steve is here but he’ll have to leave as soon as the set is done- “

“Should he even be here?” Max inquired. Nancy smiled slightly running her hand through her hair.

“Once Steve has something in mind, he doesn’t give up that easily- no scratch that. Its impossible to change his mind.”

Max rolled her eyes, “My brother does the same shit, why are men so stubborn?”

Nancy had to hold back a laugh, “That’s why you have to make men think your idea is actually their idea. Men are the head, but women are the neck, we turn them anyone we want,” Nancy explained giving the redhead and El a small smirk, both girls nearly went red trying not to laugh, especially after seeing the boys faces.

Before any argument could ensue, the whole room went dark, the only light was on the stage. Dustin pointed towards the stage, “They’re start- “

The bushy haired teen froze, his eyes went comically wide. Everyone looked concerned, Mike was the first break the silence, “Dude, what’s wrong?”

Dustin turned to Max, “Uh, isn’t that your brother going to the drum set?”

Max looked confused but that confusion soon melted to shock, “What?”

The group watched in shock as the alpha asshole made his way onto stage, he looked nothing like they were accustomed to. His hair was tied back and he had a headset attached to him, but the confident stomp over to the drum set was all Max needed to know that was no doubt her brother on stage.

The redhead couldn’t say anything. Dustin shouted her lingering thoughts for her, “What the hell is he doing here?”

Will kept staring at the stage as Heather and Robin joined the stage, “Steve is coming up. I wonder how he got so put together before the show- “

That was then they saw Steve, and everyone's mind short circuited. Even the crowd fell silent but that didn’t deter anyone’s playing, in fact that just seemed to encourage the band. Soon the crowd began to gradually cheer more as Steve began playing his portion. Even the confused drunks were getting into it.

“Yeah, go blind dude! Whoo!”

“That’s real dedication right there!”

Nancy shook her head slightly, but she couldn’t help but smile as the crowd became more and more into the song. Most girls would never support their ex-boyfriends, but Steve was an expectation, “ _Steve … you really are idiot. But I wouldn’t have it another way”_

**\- Back on Stage –**

Billy felt his heart race more and more, even as he began to play the drums he got more and more nervous, “ _Come on Hargrove, if you can play basketball in front of an entire crowd of people, you fuckin’ can play in front of dru- “_

The blond felt his brain short circuit as he caught eyes with his sister. His sister, who was supposed to be at her friend’s house, was here and watching him. It was a miracle from God or whoever that Billy didn’t mess up his drumming, he didn’t even notice Robin and Heather had come out and where now playing their parts.

_“Shit, shit! That bitch better not say shit to anyone!”_ he was finally snapped out his thoughts when he saw Jonathan lead Steve out, who was now playing his guitar portion perfectly, just like in practice.

_Love is like a bomb, baby, c'mon get it on, Living' like a lover with a radar phone_

Jonathan had quickly gotten off stage while Steve began singing into his mic unbothered by the questioning looks of the crowd. Now Billy wished he was blind, “ _Being blind does have some advantages, eh?”_

_Lookin' like a tramp, like a video vamp, Demolition woman, can I be your man? (your man)_

Soon the awkward looks of the crowd began to melt as more and more people bean to sing along with Steve, even the brats were now singing along to the band. All the questioning looks completely disappeared and everyone was just having a good time. It was that moment Billy felt his nerves be replaced with pure excitement.

_Razzle 'n' a dazzle 'n' a flash a little light, Television lover, baby, go all night_

It was a feeling even playing sports or scoring the hottest chick hadn’t offered him before, it was the same feeling he had when he surfed that really high wave for the first time. It was with his mom, she smiled so big and was so happy. He surfed that wave just to see her smile, that smile that made his heart flutter.

_Sometime, anytime, sugar me sweet, Little miss innocent sugar me, yeah, yeah_

That was then it hit him. Whenever he saw Steve smile, he wanted to be the reason he smiled. When he said he would play drums he went ahead with it after seeing how happy he made Steve. In this very moment, even though he was behind a huge set of drums and Steve’s back was towards him, he could tell by the guys voice that he was smiling just like he always did when playing his songs.

_Now c'mon, take a bottle, shake it up, Break the bubble, break it up_

He sang along with Robin and Heather as the music swelled up and the crowd become more obnoxious with excitement. But everything fell silent for Billy, he came to a very important revelation.

“ _I’m in love with Steve fuckin' Harrington.”_ He couldn’t deny it anymore.

_Pour some sugar on me, Ooh, in the name of love_

_“I’m in love with Steve fucking Harrington.”_ He went soft for the blind guy, not because Steve blind and needed help or sympathy, but because Billy liked what was in front of him. Steve had a dream, goals and never let his blindness stop him or slow him down. Even those assholes at school and his asshole father had no chance at stopping him. He was everything Billy wished he was.

And it drove him crazy.

  
_Pour some sugar on me, C'mon, fire me up_

“ _Fuckin God, these lyrics are not helping me_ ,” Billy continued on, but the music was working its magic too well on him. What he didn’t know was someone else noticed his inner turmoil.

_I'm hot, sticky sweet, From my head to my feet, yeah_

**\- In the Crowd –**

Dustin, El, Mike, Lucas and Will were all lost in the music singling along to Steve’s voice and generally getting lost in the crowds cheering and whistling at the band. But Max was too glued on her brother.

_Listen, red light, yellow light, green-a-light go, Crazy little woman in a one man shows_

She never saw him this focused on anything before, normally at his games he was the show-off who had no issue with riling up the other team players or flirting with the cheerleaders between passes, but none of that was present on stage.

_Mirror queen, mannequine, rhythm of love_

“ _He’s not doing it for himself, he’s doing for someone else_ ,” her eyes then saw Steve who was smiling while continuing on with his guitar skills, his other two other bandmates were easily able to keep up with him. Between the instruments and their backup vocals, they were all having fun and being carefree on stage while still performing without flaw. But Billy was entirely focused on his drums … and the lead singer.

_Sweet dream, saccharine, loosen up (loosen up), Loosen up_

For the first time since arriving at the club Max felt a genuine smile mold into her face, El didn’t miss it. Her friend joined arms with her before leaning into her ear, “In love?”

Before Max could reply another voice beat her to it, “Totally.”

_You gotta squeeze a little, squeeze a little, Tease a little more, Easy operator come a knockin' on my door_

The two girls turned around to see it was Nancy. She gave both girls a smirk before pointing her eyes back on the stage. The chemistry between the two was obvious to the girls, meanwhile the male portion of the party was so distracted by the music they didn’t even take the time to notice anything out of the norm.

Max rolled her eyes, “ _If men are the head then there must be missing brain matter_.”

_Sometime, anytime, sugar me sweet, Little miss innocent sugar me, yeah, yeah_

She mentally decided to ask Billy about this later, it was the first time in forever she saw him genuinely this happy and she would be damned if he lost it. He may be an asshole of a stepbrother, but Max Mayfield would do anything to help, even if that meant being an unpaid matchmaker.

_Give a little more_

**\- Back on Stage -**

_Take a bottle, shake it up, Break the bubble, break it up_

“ _Fuck, my wrists are starting swell up,”_ Billy felt like his body was sweating out all the water that his body had stored that day, but he knew deep down that’s not really why he was sweating so much. It was the song lyrics, hearing Steve’s voice, the sudden tightening of his pants-

_Pour some sugar on me, Ooh, in the name of love_

Billy was barely able to sing along with the rest of the band, he was thankful the crowd, especially the loud drunks, were making his raspy croaky voice disappear amongst the noise.

_Pour some sugar on me, C'mon, fire me up_

“ _Come on Hargrove, you fuckin got this_!” unknown to Billy now a second person was suspicious of his inner terminal. Robin could barely see Billy, but she could feel the tension in the air. She knew this song could stir up sexual tension from nun, but the one and only Billy Hargrove? Mix this song and Steve Harrington with legs on full display for a horny jock to see and you have the Billy Hargrove wet dream express.

_Pour your sugar on me, Oh, I can't get enough_

Even Heather noticed. She raised her eyebrows at seeing Billy before meeting eyes with Robin. Both girls were enjoying this way more then they wanted to admit, but hey, if it made Billy play with more passion then what was the problem? Both girls agreed on one thing mentally: they didn’t mind Billy’s sexual tension as long as he and Steve didn’t start making love on stage.

_I'm hot, sticky sweet, From my head to my feet, yeah_

The band mentally prepared themselves as they reached the last section of their song, which arguably was probably the most tense part since the crowd would expecting an epic ending to their song.

Billy took a short breath; he knew his semi solo signing portion of the song was coming up.

_You got the peaches, I got the cream, Sweet to taste,_

“ _Saccharine!_ ” Billy’s shouted, surprised by how good he actually sounded in the club compared to the band room at the school.

_  
Cause I'm hot_

_“Hot!”_ Billy wished he could see Steve’s face, he would never admit it outload, but he so badly wanted to know he had Steve’s approval in this moment.

_Say what, sticky sweet, From my head_

_“Head_!” Max watched in surprise, if this wasn’t enough to confirm her brother hidden feelings, she didn’t know what else could.

_My head, to my feet_

_Do you take sugar? One lump or two?_

_“It’s almost over, it’s almost over!”_ Billy groaned the uncomfortable amount of restriction that was in his pants, he could only focus on his drumming, on the song … on Steve. His conflicting thoughts just made the fire under his ass grow even more.

_Take a bottle (take a bottle), shake it up (shake it up)_

Now the whole band was basically singing along, backing up Steve at every lyric. The crowd was now fully impressed and immersed in the performance.

_Break the bubble (break it up), break it up, Pour some sugar on me, Ooh, in the name of love_

At that moment in time everyone was lost in their own world, this set was all too perfect, for Steve this was the best performance the band ever had since forming a year ago. Yeah, they had up and downs, but all those bumps were well worth it.

_Pour some sugar on me, C'mon fire me up, Pour your sugar on me, Oh, I can't get enough_

“ _Asking Hargrove to be the drummer was the best decision I ever made_ ,” Steve's fingers played the guitar with little effort, the crowd was yelling so much, it only rejuvenated him. Though his eyes disagreed with him, the pressure under his bandages was beginning to become unbearable, it was enough to almost make him stop.

_Pour some sugar on me, Oh, in the name of love, Pour some sugar on me, Get it, come get it_

_“Come on, just a few more lines and I’m home free,”_ Steve could tell his band mates were looking at him in worry, yet he couldn’t bring himself to care at the moment. The crowd loved him, loved his band, loved what he had to offer, they didn’t give two shits about his shitty eyesight or the fact that he didn’t know what any of the crowd member looked like.

He found a sense of belonging no amount of money could pay for. And he would forever be grateful for his bandmates.

_Pour your sugar on me (oh-ooh), Pour some sugar on me_

Billy was relieved. The set was almost done, but at the same time he was sad, the crowd made his heart beat fast enough for a heart attack, yet it was a rush he loved. Nothing could convince him otherwise. He watched as Steve grabbed onto the mic pushing it closer to his lips screaming out the last words, “ _Yeah, sugar me!”_

With that the band stopped, but the crowd didn’t. Cheers and yells filled the entire club, Heather, Robin and Billy all looked at each other, each had different feelings, but all were relieved the set went on without incident.

Billy watched Robin take of her guitar before starting to assist Steve with his own. Heather soon joined the two before looking back at motioning him to come forward. He knew he shouldn’t, but hell he didn’t care anymore, he was fucking proud.

He joined the other side of Heather, the crowd seemed to become louder than even before. His ears were ringing from the noise that assaulted his eardrums, but still, he smiled ear to ear.

“You guys rock! The blind dude is fuckin awesome!” a drunken guy slurred from the front, several other people made similar shouts and cheers but what really caught the blonde’s eyes was his sister in the back. What met his eyes was her big smile, it surprised him. Sure, he’s seen her smile genuinely loads of times before, but this was different. This was the first time she ever gave a smile that was directed at him and him alone.

Max raised her arms giving devil horns, Billy smirked giving a slight nod back, “ _Perhaps shitbird and I do have common ground.”_

Everything seemed so perfect until the feedback of the mic gained attention of the band, “That was Demogorgon, up next is ‘Ryan Reese’-“

“What the hell?” Steve asked outload in bewilderment, Robin and Heather shared the same expression. Before Billy could even question anything, he and the rest of the group were being led out and off the stage with some of club workers helping them take their equipment off the main stage.

“I thought we had another song? Why are we being booted out?” he questioned, before he could get a reply, he saw Heather freeze before pointing a shaky finger at the direction where the back of the stage was.

“I think that’s why.”

Billy looked at the direction, he instantly felt his heat drop into his stomach. All the pride and adrenaline he had moments ago was now gone, abandoned ship, eliminated. Why?

Only a few feet in front of them was Hopper and Officer Powell, who had grabbed Jonathan by his shoulder. The brunette looked down in embarrassment, unable to look at the rest of the group. Billy wanted to be mad and place all the blame on the freak, but at the moment his nerves overtook everything.

_“Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!”_

Hopper cleared his throat, which effective made Steve freeze in his tracks. Billy never saw Steve like this before, no sarcastic remarks, no snarky combats or lame excuses that even the most naïve of teenagers wouldn’t believe, only one word escaped his lips, “Fuck.”

Hopper gave a small grunt and eye roll before walking up to Steve, “Playing hooky from the hospital, Harrington?”


End file.
